Chief Minister Allan Bell MHK has welcomed the publication this week of the first ‘Business Barometer’ quarterly survey conducted by the Chamber of Commerce.

More than 100 Island businesses have taken part in the exercise, providing live economic data across a broad range of sectors.
Key findings include:

•       Two-thirds of businesses are optimistic about the next 12 months, with less than one in ten pessimistic;
•       Over half have seen their key measure (sales, deposits etc) improve over the last quarter;
•       Over 40% expect to increase staffing in the year ahead, compared to only 12% looking to reduce;
•       One in three expect profits to grow by more than 10% in the year ahead, with 10% anticipating a fall in profit.
 
The Chief Minister commented: ‘The Chamber of Commerce is to be congratulated for producing the “Business Barometer”. It is a welcome additional tool to help monitor the current outlook across the economy, and to indicate issues of importance to the business community.

‘The picture presented by the first survey is a positive one, confirming high levels of confidence amongst the wide range of businesses taking part. This is encouraging news for the Island’s economy.’

The ‘Business Barometer’ survey can be found on the Chamber of Commerce website at http://www.iomchamber.org.im/public/latest-news/business-barometer-q1-survey-results.aspx.