The outlook for the German-British business community shows a relatively balanced picture, but it has worsened over the last six months, with only a quarter of respondents expecting their business to perform better over the coming twelve months.
In terms of the overall development of the UK economy, firms take a much more negative view, as only 5% expect the UK economy to perform better over the coming twelve months (81% expect it to perform worse or significantly worse).
However, nearly 40% of companies still expect to hire new employees over the coming year – even if this is a somewhat lower figure than in spring 2022 (50%), it suggests that demand for labour is still going strong.
Rising energy/input costs (cost pressures) and skills shortages have become the largest challenges faced by our business community. Additionally, logistical problems, a lack of demand as well as trade barriers continue to be high up on the agenda. In other words, the war in the Ukraine, supply chain bottlenecks, inflation and Brexit continue to have a significant impact on businesses.
As a result of the current crises, only a few companies have relocated or plan to relocate some of their business activities to other locations outside the UK. This suggests that despite the current economic and political uncertainties, companies still value the operating environment in the UK.
