Northern Ireland Chamber of Commerce and Industry Ambition Magazine

NEWS

Suzanne Wylie (chief executive, NI Chamber); Brian Murphy (managing partner, BDO NI) and Maureen O’Reilly (economist for the QES).

New Trading Realities Become Clear

N o matter what challenges and uncertainties NI businesses have to face, it’s heartening to see that 79% are still trading well and are just getting on with it. This is similar to where we have been in recent years and shows that regardless of the wider economic picture, and no matter what the commentators say, our local firms persevere and succeed. ecruitment intentions h ve lw ys provided cle r indic tion of business perform nce nd confidence nd it is re ssuring to see th t recruitment ctivity rem ins incredibly high, with 81% of m nuf cturers nd 69% of services either currently t king on new st ff or pl nning to. In ddition, investment intentions round tr ining re positive for both

This reset will positively influence more cooper tive UK-EU rel tionship, st bilising post-Brexit tr de nd politic l ties nd ultim tely bringing positive outcomes for the loc l economy nd strengthening the businesses th t oper te within it. Given the positive economic momentum th t recent qu rters’ results h ve shown us, it’s cle r to me th t the ll-too-common spectre of ‘uncert inty’ no longer h s the s me hold over NI businesses th t it used to, nd long m y this continue. Looking to the future, this momentum c n be enh nced even further through coll bor tion with our elected represent tives nd other st keholders. This presents NI PLC with very unique opportunity, n opportunity th t we c nnot fford to w ste.

the m nuf cturing nd services sectors, showc sing the ongoing import nce pl ced on st ff development by businesses in their efforts to grow. Glob lly, despite the concerns nd medi cover ge bout US t riffs nd new tr ding rr ngements, we note th t ne rly 40% of loc l businesses s y this h s h d no imp ct, with further 10% s ying it h s in f ct been positive for their business. H ving s id th t, the concerns of the 21% who h ve been neg tively imp cted need to be ddressed. Given time, these figures m y well fluctu te s our new tr ding re lities become cle rer. Furthermore, it’s encour ging to see th t most businesses see positive imp ct on the NI nd UK economies s result of the Tr de nd Cooper tion Agreement ‘reset’ between the UK nd EU.

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