The results are listed below, but we have looked closely at the findings, highlighting five we feel are potentially of significance.
- In the April survey a total of 73.9% of respondents were optimistic about the UK Fire and Security Sector: in November this rose (slightly) to 76.1%.
- However, their views on the prospects for their own business showed a much bigger increase with 55.2% thinking they would be better off, compared with only 46.1% in April.
- There has been a slight fall in the number of organisations who think employee numbers will fall. Over one fifth of companies, still think employee numbers will rise over the next 12 months.
- In April 25.3% of respondents thought salaries would fall: this has dropped dramatically to 7.6%. Almost a quarter of companies responding felt some increase in salaries was likely.
- Perhaps the most significant finding was regarding the factors holding business back. In April 09, 40.8% felt the biggest factor was a lack of confidence in the market. In November this fell to 16.7%. The biggest factor holding business back is now thought to be the slowness in customer decision making, with almost two thirds of responses citing this reason.
Mindful of Disraeli’s “lies, damn lies and statistics” maxim, we will try not to rely too heavily on the survey results, but the overall trend continues to be positive and the “green shoots” may just be climbing just that little bit higher.
