Businesses urged to have a say on health of Shropshire economy

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

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

All submissions are anonymous with the closing date for submissions on September 6.

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.

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.

“It is completely anonymous – so that you can speak freely - and takes only a few minutes. 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.”

Shropshire Chamber’s previous quarterly survey revealed that the number of businesses reporting a rise in profitability fell by 10 per cent on the first three months of 2024, while those reporting a rise in turnover was down by 7 per cent.

To take part, see www.surveymonkey.com/r/ShropChamberQES32024