Kent’s Quarterly Economic Survey Q1 2023
Kent Invicta is one of six Chambers in the South East that are accredited by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).
It regularly contributes to 30%-50% of the South East’s responses to the Quarterly Economic Survey, the largest UK survey of its kind, which is administered on behalf of the BCC by every accredited Chamber.
The questionnaire, honed over many years to gather a wealth of information, takes only about 3 minutes for a business Proprietor / Managing Director / Chief Executive, to complete.
The domestic sales in Q2 2022 were at a high but since then it took a hit. Up until this quarter we had not seen any bounce back since it fell significantly in Q3 2022. 25% of businesses reported an increase in UK Sales, 31% of businesses reported a decrease in UK sales and the overall net balance of -6% (up from -12% in Q4 2022).
Turning to domestic orders, the net balance of domestic orders also reflected the same improvement as domestic sales, from -20% to -13%. 21% of businesses reported an increase in UK Orders, 33% of businesses reported a decrease in UK Orders and the overall net balance of -13% (up from -20% in Q4 2022).
More businesses continued to report a decrease rather than an increase in domestic demand. Looking at the sectoral split of these responses. Manufacturing sector businesses experienced a domestic demand decrease furthermore than any other sector. 41% of manufacturing businesses said domestic sales decreased and 47% of them said domestic orders decreased.
