Commenting on the trade statistics for March 2017, released today by the ONS, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said: “The sharp deterioration in the UK’s net trade position means that trade is likely to have been a drag on UK growth in the first quarter of the year, following a strong performance in the previous quarter. This deterioration reflects a s...

Somerset’s first Quarterly Economic Survey (QES) Breakfast Briefing took place on Wednesday 3 May, highlighting the regional findings from Q1 2017 of the British Chambers’ national business barometer. Business people from across the county attended the event at Tangier Central in Taunton, which was organised by Somerset Chamber of Commerce and chartered accountants PKF Francis Clark. John En...

With five weeks to go until the election, each week the British Chambers of Commerce will be focusing on one of our five keys ‘asks’ from the Chamber Manifesto. In conjunction with the mayoral elections, this week they are looking specifically at local growth and devolution.Businesses need a strong voice in the local decision-making process It’s often the case with public policy that ...

The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) has launched ‘Brexit and Beyond’, the Chamber Network manifesto for General Election 2017. The Chamber manifesto calls for the new government, which will be responsible for negotiating the terms of the UK’s departure from the European Union, to provide business communities with clear answers to the pragmatic and practical questions around how Brexit w...

Commenting on the preliminary UK GDP figures for Q1 2017, published today by the ONS, Suren Thiru, Head of Economics at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said: “The preliminary estimate of UK GDP growth indicates that the UK economy suffered a slight loss of momentum in the first quarter of the year, following a strong end to 2016. That said, quarterly growth of 0.3% is still in line with...

SMEs can help their young staff develop essential workplace skills and attributes by signposting them to DofE Direct; a new way for 18-23 year olds to achieve a Gold Duke of Edinburgh’s Award independently, without the need to belong to a local group. The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award (DofE) is widely recognised as enabling young people to build and evidence a range of so-called soft skills such ...