Businesses urged to take part in survey

Christian Spence, Research Manager at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce

Businesses are being urged to take part in the largest business survey in the UK.

Each quarterly economic survey run by the British Chambers of Commerce receives around 8,000 responses nationwide, with Greater Manchester businesses being one of the single largest contributing groups.

Christian Spence, Head of Business Intelligence at Greater Manchester Chamber of Commerce, said: “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.

“Recent results continue to show that the recovery is firmly embedded in Greater Manchester and businesses expect to continue to seek new staff over the coming months. Our members do tell us, however, that finding the right staff is difficult and accessing the right labour is one of the higher risks to businesses over the coming months.”

The Manchester Index is an early indicator of trends in the local economy and 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 survey is open until 17 September and businesses can find out how to complete it at www.gmchamber.co.uk/qes