• Swindon & Wiltshire Economy
• Friday May 30 2025

South West businesses confidence rocketed in May

Business confidence in the South West rocketed in May, following a more modest increase in April.

The latest Business Barometer from Lloyds showed headline confidence at 45 per cent – up 23 points.

Companies in the region reported higher confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, up nine points at 52 per cent.

When taken alongside their optimism in the economy, up 35 points to 37 per cent, it gave a headline confidence reading of 45 per cent, against 22 per cent in April.

Looking ahead to the next six months, South West businesses identified their top target areas for growth as investing in their team, for example through training (38 per cent), introducing new technology, such as AI or automation (35 per cent) and investing in sustainability (33 per cent).

Nationally, the headline confidence figure stood at 50 per cent, up 11 points and the highest since August 2024.

Amanda Dorel, regional director for the South West at Lloyds, said: “Rising confidence reflects the ambition and resilience of South West businesses.

“Local businesses will be focused on translating this confidence into growth, and we’ll be ready to provide our support to help them take the next steps in their journey.

“The coming months could bring particular opportunity for the region’s strong hospitality and tourism sector. Firms that keep a close eye on their working capital will be best placed to take advantage of any increases in trade.”

Hann-Ju Ho, senior economist at Lloyds Commercial Banking, said: “The rebound in business confidence suggests that firms might be in a stronger position for the next quarter.

“The rise in confidence is driven by a sharp increase in economic optimism, reflecting the recovery in financial markets amid more promising prospects for potential global trade agreements.

“Equally as encouragingly is the fact that trading prospects, wage expectations and hiring intentions also saw improvements this month.

“The positive trends in these metrics are important signals for potential growth and resilience in the business community and the wider economy.

“While we know that fluctuations do occur month on month and the global economic outlook remains uncertain, this month’s increase in confidence is an encouraging sign.”

The Business Barometer, which surveys 1,200 businesses monthly and which has been running since 2002, provides early signals about UK economic trends both regionally and nationwide.

Latest: Region’s businesses say greater AI adoption will drive growth