Pictured above: Stephen Cronin

Business confidence is starting to return to the Midlands as an increasing number of companies look to take advantage of growth opportunities in the next 12 months, according to research issued today by Yorkshire Bank.

Yorkshire Bank's latest business confidence survey found that nearly half (47%) of the UK companies surveyed are confident their business will grow in the next 12 months. 

According to the new research, just over a third of UK businesses (34%) believe their company will continue to operate at current levels, while just 14% think their business will see a reduction in trade. However, the research does show that one in 25 (4%) companies are fearful that they will go out of business within the next 12 months.

In the Midlands, 31.8 per cent of businesses are confident their companies will grow over the next 12 months.

At the opposite end of the scale, 22.7 per cent of Midlands businesses believe there will be some reduction in business in the next year.

Stephen Cronin, managing partner at Yorkshire Bank's Financial Solutions Centre in Temple Row in Birmingham, said: "These figures are promising. They appear to indicate that growing numbers of Midlands businesses are looking to the future more confidently and are beginning to explore opportunities to develop and grow their operations. This is encouraging as where confidence exists, growth often follows.

"It has clearly been a challenging time for businesses and times will continue to be tough. While it remains important for businesses to retain a grounded and balanced perspective, a growing number will be looking at how they can take advantage of emerging market opportunities." 

Despite signs pointing to returning confidence, the research across the UK also shows that times remain tough with eight out of ten (79%) companies not finding business getting any easier. Half (50%) of these businesses cite the uncertain economic and political environments as key reasons for this.

Yorkshire Bank recently launched a new business support initiative - Investing for Growth - to help successful businesses grow and develop by easing their cashflow pressures. The initiative offers both new and existing business customers a dedicated planning service and a more flexible approach to lending.

Stephen added: "As we can see from the research, confidence is beginning to return but many of the pressures remain. While most businesses are confident that they will succeed, ensuring they have the right level of support is key.

"While it won't be right for every business, Investing for Growth will provide businesses with investment finance to increase cash flow and ease debt commitments. This will help enable companies to invest cash back into their businesses."

Yorkshire Bank's research also found that the sectors most confident of growth are IT & telecoms (62%), manufacturing (61%) and travel and transport (61%). However, the healthcare (27%), education (25%) and architecture (23%) sectors are those most concerned about losing business over the next year.