Have your say on the health of the Shropshire economy

Shropshire Chamber of Commerce has launched its latest quarterly economic survey to gain a snapshot of the mood among local employers.

The survey quizzes business owners on a wide range of topics including sales forecasts, international trade, recruitment, training, cashflow, and confidence levels.

It is open to any business of any size in Shropshire or Telford & Wrekin. Companies do not need to be a member of Shropshire Chamber to take part.

All submissions are anonymous, to allow businesses to speak honestly and frankly. To take part, see www.surveymonkey.com/r/ShropChamberQES25-Q3

Shropshire’s results are fed into the national survey by the British Chambers of Commerce, which is used by the Bank of England and other relevant bodies and economists.

The previous quarterly survey found that the Government’s financial squeeze on employers through increased National Insurance and National Minimum Wage rates was taking its toll on the Shropshire business community, creating an atmosphere of nervousness and uncertainty.

Only one in three of the Shropshire businesses which took part in the survey reported a rise in sales over the past quarter – with fewer than one in five seeing a rise in future orders.

Ruth Ross, Shropshire Chamber’s chief executive, said: “It’s really important for us that as many businesses as possible take time to fill in this survey.

“Every single business voice matters. The greater the voice, the greater the influence we can have to support the businesses of Shropshire.

“This is part of the largest and most respected quarterly business intelligence survey in the country, and the BCC asks us to gather business sentiment in Shropshire and Telford & Wrekin to feed this into the data. 

“The results are used by multiple Government departments, as well as the Bank of England, to understand the business climate. We want it to paint as accurate a picture as possible of the local economy.”