Small business entrepreneurs are hopeful for future

Nov 2 2009 by Iain Laing, The Journal

ENTREPRENEURS running small businesses are still optimistic about the economy despite orders in the sector remaining depressed.

Demand for goods made by the UK’s small and medium-sized manufacturers remained depressed in the last three months, but firms expect order books to stabilise in the next quarter, according to the CBI’s latest quarterly SME Trends Survey.

Four out of 10 of the 424 firms surveyed saw the volume of total new orders decline in the three months to October, while 24% reported a rise. But overall they expect demand to stabilise in the next three months and their confidence is at the highest level since April 2007.

The volume of manufacturing output declined further during the last quarter with 35% of firms reporting a fall, and 22% a rise – which is a marked improvement on the previous quarter.

Russel Griggs, chairman of the CBI’s SME Council, said: “It is good to see that both small and medium-sized firms feel more positive about business prospects than they have for two and a half years, and hope that orders will stabilise in the coming three months

“However, current conditions remain challenging for many small and medium-sized UK manufacturers, with orders and output still falling, and uncertainty about demand a major concern.”

South Tyneside brush manufacturer Cottam Brush has won a number of orders recently to see it through to the end of the year.

Managing director Ben Cottam said he was more optimistic about the future, although the business which employs 30, has not been too badly affected by the recession.

He said: “We’ve had quite a large influx of work in the last few weeks. We’re certainly busy until the end of the year. Things are looking good.

“My take on the recession is that the thing that has made things a little difficult for us was not having the stability. We might be busy one week but not the next. It’s that unpredictability we struggle with. Growth is difficult at the moment.”

And Michael Mitten, managing director of Newcastle engineering group Houghton International, says he is benefiting from the work put in place following the downturn of 2001.

He said: “We anticipate that we’ll create more than 40 new jobs over the next two years – built on solid foundations.”