THE majority of British-based business owner-managers expect the economy to improve this year, according to research by Allied Irish Bank (GB).
The report, based on a survey of 300 senior financial decision-makers in Britain, found that nine-in-10 are optimistic about their prospects over the coming 12 months.
Company owners in the North of the country were found to be more optimistic about their businesses and less stressed than their Southern and London counterparts, the report also revealed.
Businesses in the North are twice as likely as those in the South to invest in capital projects.
According to the survey just under a quarter of Owner Managed Businesses (OMBs) in London (24 per cent) and the Midlands and Wales (23 per cent) expect to increase capital investment in the next 12 months.
This compares to almost half (49 per cent) of those in the North of England, Scotland and the North of Ireland.
Around half (53 per cent) of OMBs in London expect revenue will increase in the next 12 months.
While in the Midlands and Wales (73 per cent) and North of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland (72 per cent) almost three quarters expect to see top-line growth.
“The findings from our first survey of Owner Managed Businesses across the UK, capture the current views of a key engine of our economy and important part of the UK’s social fabric,” said Gerard O’Keeffe, Head of GB Business, Allied Irish Bank (GB).
“The research highlights the bravery, optimism and resilience of the people owning and running UK businesses, with the majority family owned, but it also reflects the very personal stretch and stresses that go with the territory of running your own business.”
He added: “These are people that need and deserve our support as they face these challenges and our whole economy and society benefits from their success.”
But when it comes to feeling the pressure of running a business Londoners feel the least satisfied with their level of stress at work.
Less than half (46 per cent) are ‘satisfied with level of work stress’.
Northerners, Scots and the Irish are by contrast happier, with four in five (80 per cent) saying they are satisfied with their levels of stress at work.
