Biz con high despite supply chain disruption

“While businesses may be cautious in their economic outlooks, their actions display a focus on growth,” says John Simmons, the bank’s head of middle market banking and specialised industries. “Businesses are signalling that they’re practiced in being nimble and prepared for several different scenarios, which are keys to operating effectively in today’s economy.”

These actions include the allocation of more funds to cover increased costs related to moving products – a strategy that almost half of German businesses are employing – or near-shoring production, which 42% of UK business are doing, up 12% from 2022. Meanwhile, despite the negative impacts on the working capital cycle of holding excess inventory, a third of UK respondents said that they’d also turned to stockpiling to boost their resilience.

“British business leaders are pragmatic and are having to make strategic decisions with challenging choices given the current cards dealt and what’s expected ahead,” says Vis Raghavan, JP Morgan’s CEO of Emea.

Overall, although businesses may not be in full agreement about the extent to which stubbornly high inflation, rising energy prices and strained supply chains are affecting the global economic outlook, the JP Morgan survey reveals that sentiment remains high. With the upheaval of the last few years giving them a strong grounding in dealing with heightened uncertainty, businesses remain convinced about their ability to succeed.