Recession over, but worries continue

Forty per cent of business leaders admitted that a delayed recovery is one of the biggest issues they face this year. Indeed, over a third are not expecting any recovery until the third quarter of 2010, and 23 per cent fear a double-dip recession.

This comes against today’s news that the UK has officially exited the recession, after weaker-than-expected figures showed that the economy had grown 0.1 per cent in the last three months of 2009.

Commenting on the GDP figures, John Wright, national chairman of the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB), says: “Today’s figures begin to show encouraging signs, although the recovery remains frail. In order to strengthen the recovery, it is important that we boost consumer confidence and demand, and that interest rates are held steady.”

The FSB also urged the government to re-think its plans on increasing national insurance contributions, as the tax would “discourage small businesses from taking on additional staff, which will prevent them from growing and put a further block on economic recovery”.

Ultimately, the uncertainty surrounding how businesses will emerge from the downturn is leading to many employees questioning how satisfied or fulfilled they are in their current jobs.

CBSbutler’s survey identified skills retention as the second biggest issue for entrepreneurs, with 30 per cent of respondents feeling that the retention of key skill sets once the recovery gets underway would be a major issue.

“One of the biggest eroders of confidence during this recession has been uncertainty – and judging by the results of our survey, it looks like that uncertainty is set to continue,” says David Leyshon, MD of CBSbutler.

Related articles:Britain out of recessionWe’re out of recession, so why the long face?

Picture source

Share this story