ANOTHER stormy 12 months is on the cards for Britain’s small firms, according to a New Year economic forecast by the Forum of Private Business (FPB).

The FPB’s economic adviser, Prof Phillip Whyman, said businesses should be braced for a year in which the UK, European and world economies struggle to cope with prolonged slow growth, the euro debt crisis, plummeting consumer confidence and spiralling unemployment.

Prof Whyman, a lecturer in Business and Economics at the University of Central Lancashire, said: “The current economic situation is serious.

“GDP growth for 2011 is likely to come in below 1% once figures are in, and predictions for 2012 from 1.2% to 0.5%, with the Office for Budgetary Responsibility (OBR) predicting 0.7% as its mid-point forecast.

“This is very weak indeed, and indicates that the economy is more fragile than most commentators realised.”

He expects unemployment to hit 2.9 million as private sector expansion stalls in the face of global uncertainty.

“Job losses in the public sector have not been compensated for by a rapid expansion in private sector employment, as predicted by the OBR a year or more ago, and it’s not surprising why this has not occurred,” said Prof Whyman.