More accountancy jobs could become available as confidence returns to the UK economy.
According to the latest Business Factors Index (BFI) from Bibby Financial Services, firms felt more assured during the second quarter of this year than they did in the first, even though business turnover declined.
In June the index stood at 95.7, thanks in part to productivity increases seen across many businesses in May, which may have spurred accountancy recruitment levels.
When asked how their business is performing, 72 per cent of small and medium-sized respondents to the BFI responded positively, up from 63 per cent in the first three months of the year.
Similarly, the number of business managers who feel they are only just surviving fell from 24 per cent to 21 per cent during the course of the second quarter.
However, firms also identified the key factors they feel could accelerate the recovery further, with more flexible lending conditions and reduced VAT the most popular responses.
Edward Rimmer, chief executive at Bibby, said “It is imperative that firms do not become complacent and that they acknowledge that the UK economy, as the Index demonstrates, is susceptible to fluctuations with more challenges expected in the coming months.”
The index also revealed that firms in the north-west and Yorkshire and Humberside enjoyed the strongest improvement in business conditions during the second quarter, while Greater London, East Midlands and Wales endured the worst.
Businesses could benefit from greater lending after a number of UK banks passed stress tests issued by the European Union to ascertain how vulnerable they are to future economic turbulence.
Barclays, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group and Royal Bank of Scotland all passed the Committee of European Banking Supervisors’ (CEBS) evaluation, although seven financial institutions across the rest of the continent failed.
In testing the banks, the CEBS assumed a three per cent drop in GDP across the EU compared to the European Commission’s forecasts for the next two years.
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