The Bank of England are really keen to hear from regional businesses and regularly hold briefings, the latest of which I attended today in the University of Bath’s amazing building which is home to their School of Management
But that’s where the good news ends. Without going into too much detail, the headline story looks bleak, with just a hint of “things could be worse.”
In short, growth is pretty flat, though inflation is more or less under control and interest rates are edging down, somewhat dependent on steady energy prices. But that could all change if things went wrong in the Middle East, just one of a series of unknowns.
For example at home, will changes to National Insurance lead to fewer jobs, lower wages, higher prices or any combination of the three ? Meanwhile abroad, what will the Trump administration actually do, compared to what the President elect says he will do ?
It is no wonder many businesses are sitting on their hands, not making big decisions on major investments but instead hunkering down for what could be some chilly days ahead in more ways than one.
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