UK Small Business Confidence at Pre-Brexit Levels

The last quarter saw small businesses in the U.K. regain their confidence to pre-referendum levels but the falling pound is driving up costs and crimping profits, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

The FSB’s Small Business Index has now turned positive, with the headline confidence measure at +8.5 compared to -2.9 in the previous quarter. At the beginning of 2016, before the U.K. voted to leave the European Union, the headline confidence measure was +8.6.

“We are delighted to see confidence bounce back at the end of 2016, effectively wiping out the fall we saw over the course of the year in the run-up to the EU referendum and its immediate fallout,” Mike Cherry, the FSB’s national chairman, said in a statement on Wednesday.

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Craig Erlam

Craig Erlam

Former Senior Market Analyst, UK & EMEA at OANDA
Based in London, Craig Erlam joined OANDA in 2015 as a market analyst. With many years of experience as a financial market analyst and trader, he focuses on both fundamental and technical analysis while producing macroeconomic commentary.

His views have been published in the Financial Times, Reuters, The Telegraph and the International Business Times, and he also appears as a regular guest commentator on the BBC, Bloomberg TV, FOX Business and SKY News.

Craig holds a full membership to the Society of Technical Analysts and is recognised as a Certified Financial Technician by the International Federation of Technical Analysts.