Survey to reveal rate of growth for Greater Manchester economy

Christian Spence, Research Manager at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce is urging businesses to take part in the largest and most authoritative business survey in the UK.

The Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) is run by the national Chambers of Commerce network and the results have reliably anticipated the onset of both recessions since the early 1990s, and regularly predict national and regional economic performance trends across a variety of different sectors.

Each quarterly survey receives around 8,000 responses nationwide, with Greater Manchester businesses being one of the single largest contributing groups to the survey.

Christian Spence, Head of Business Intelligence at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “Last quarter there were strong results across all sectors and we’re expecting to see that recovery maintained this time around. So far this year, we’ve seen evidence of higher employment intentions, but this is likely to bring about an increase in pay pressures, so it will be interesting to see how businesses are planning to deal with this.

“There are a number of key indicators that we extract from the QES results which help us track how Greater Manchester businesses are faring. Collectively, these indicators are known as the ‘Manchester Index’, which, last quarter accurately predicted the rate of economic growth over the first quarter.”

The Manchester Index is not only an early indicator of trends in the local economy, but also matches what the UK economy is doing as a whole. This means that Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce can help its members plan for the future and help inform their business decisions.

The results from this quarter’s survey will be delivered at the Chamber’s Quarterly Economic Breakfast on 4 July. Visit www.gmchamber.co.uk/events for further information and to book a place.

The survey is open until 18 June and businesses can find out how to complete it at:

www.gmchamber.co.uk/qes