Confident Scots lead the recovery

Scottish business are more confident and performing better than their counterparts south of the Border, according to a survey that shows the private sector is recovering throughout the UK.

The Business Tracker report by office space provider Regus, published today, shows that business confidence and company performance in Scotland have seen “moderate improvements” over the past six months and remain above the UK as a whole. Companies reporting revenue and growth increases rose by 6 per cent and 1 per cent respectively. The rises signal a reversal of the sharp decline that was recorded in the six months to October 2011.

Steve Purdy, UK managing director at Regus, said: “After a significant setback between April and October last year, business confidence in Scotland is beginning to grow again and that is a highly positive sign. In addition to this, the proportion of companies reporting revenue and profit growth has started to increase.

“It is clear from our research that the business performance and confidence of small firms has particularly improved over the last period.”

Regus’s survey of more than 2,500 businesses follows yesterday’s purchasing managers’ index from the Bank of Scotland, which showed a sharp rise in private sector output in March.