Businesses in Britain are not as gloomy as consumers. Yet
Prices and interest rates are rising, so why hasn’t corporate confidence fallen more?
SIMON BOYD of REIDsteel, an engineering firm, is haunted by rising taxes, high energy prices and expensive raw materials. He complains of “scary spikes” in the firm’s costs. Over the past two years he has seen steel almost quadruple in price, and in October he expects energy bills to double—at least. (There is no energy-price cap for companies, unlike households.)
This article appeared in the Britain section of the print edition under the headline “Confidence stick”
Britain May 14th 2022
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From the May 14th 2022 edition
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