Region’s business beating average
Business activity in Yorkshire has outstripped the UK average for the second month in a row, new figures show, with a senior banker at Lloyds referring to Yorkshire’s economy as “buoyant”.
BUSINESS ACTIVITY in Yorkshire has outstripped the UK average for the second month in succession, new figures show, with a senior banker at Lloyds referring to Yorkshire’s economy as “buoyant”.
Data published today from Lloyds’s latest Regional Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) survey has found Yorkshire firms were enjoying an increase in new orders and were continuing to create jobs.
The Yorkshire and Humber PMI registered at 57.2 in January, down slightly from 57.7 in December, but still expanding faster than the UK average of 55.5. A reading of above 50 shows growth, whereas a reading below signals decline.
The weakness of Sterling continued to put pressure on businesses, with input prices, which include raw materials and salaries, rising at the sharpest rate since April 2011. In turn businesses are often passing on part of the higher cost burden to customers, with prices charged for goods and services rising further.
Adrian Walker, who heads up Lloyds Bank Global Transaction Banking (GTB), said that rising levels of confidence were beginning to translate into increased levels of business.
Speaking to The Yorkshire Post before the latest PMI data was published, he said: “We are seeing an increased level of confidence in this area from our client base and that is starting to show through in the level of business that is coming through, it is quiet buoyant at the moment. From a trade perspective there was a degree of people waiting to see what it all meant but subsequent to that we have had people saying ‘look we have just got to get on with it’.
“It rebounded reasonably quickly. We are trying to facilitate the continued aspiration of growing UK-wide trading by facilitation of a whole bunch of trading activity in the trade space and to encourage clients to trade abroad for the first time.
“And of course Yorkshire is a strong trading area for Lloyds Bank, it is a heartland manufacturing centre but also has got a lot of pharmaceutical and other high quality businesses here.
“We see there are big opportunities to export given the devaluation of the pound.”
Leigh Taylor, regional director for SME banking at Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking, said: “The health of the Yorkshire and Humber economy continued to improve at the start of 2017. Business activity and new orders rose at marked rates that outstripped those seen at the UK level. However, the weakness of the pound contributed towards rising costs, which also led to higher prices charged for goods and services.”
Mr Walker said that the decline in the value of the pound was proving advantageous to firms wishing to export for the first time and that, gradually, the message was getting out to bosses that the process of becoming an exporter was easier than one might expect.
“It is simple, it is relatively easy, it can create interesting growth opportunities for you as a company and we can help Britain pros- per by supporting the growth of exporters in the UK,” he said.
“There is huge amounts of support out there to help companies grow internationally.”
When asked if the weak pound was resulting in an increase in people exporting for the first time, Mr Walker replied: “I would say yes, but there is a degree of caution about longer term contracts because there is that degree of uncertainty out there about how this might shake out. Certainly it is easier for people to be profitable abroad.”
The Lloyds Bank Regional PMI is the leading economic health-check of UK regions. It is based on responses from manufacturers and services businesses about the amount of goods and services produced during January compared with a month earlier.