Business leaders have been reacting to today’s news that the UK is back in recession.
The Institute of Directors in the South West hopes it won’t overly hit business confidence, which has been showing signs of improvement in recent months
Gerry Jones, chairman of the IoD in the south west, said: “It is disappointing to see the UK drop back into recession. However, we must not let the media coverage damage business confidence.
“The South West has some fantastic SMEs that can create the growth our local economy needs.
“Nick Clegg told me this morning that his Government will continue to support business and urge the banks to lend to us.”
John Cridland, CBI Director-General, added: “This disappointing news comes as something of a surprise. Since the turn of the year, business confidence has improved and, while still challenging, underlying economic conditions also appear to have strengthened.
“In particular, the weakness of the services sector data does not tally closely with a range of survey indicators suggesting that the sector has been picking up through the first quarter.
“Looking forward, there are indications that the economy is slowly recovering from the blow to confidence and activity which resulted from last autumn’s turmoil in Eurozone financial markets.”
