Business activity rose in 10 of the UK’s 12 nations and regions in July, up from just three in June, according to the latest NatWest UK Regional Growth Tracker.
The survey, compiled by S&P Global from responses to its UK PMI surveys, attributed the improvement to reduced cost pressures and a general pick-up in business confidence at the start of the third quarter.
The Tracker’s headline measure is the Business Activity Index, where any reading above 50.0 signals growth and higher readings indicate faster expansion.
London topped the rankings in July with a reading of 55.3, ahead of the South East on 53.2 and Northern Ireland on 51.4. Scotland, at 47.3, and Yorkshire & Humber, at 49.1, were the only areas to record decreases in output.
The July figures mark a step change from June, when growth was confined to London (54.1), the South East (50.9) and the North East (50.8), and Northern Ireland posted the sharpest fall in output at 43.9.
Support authors and subscribe to content
This is premium stuff. Subscribe to read the entire article.
