Warwickshire businesses open up to the Bank of England

The Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce held a roundtable with Glynn Jones, the Bank’s Deputy Agent in the West Midlands, at Coombe Abbey Hotel.

Companies from a range of sectors – from cleaning to copper tubing and from freight to finance – gave their verdict on the factors affecting decision-making in business.

The impending Budget and the Employment Rights Bill are, alongside global issues, weighing on confidence the meeting heard.

Glynn said that inflation was proving ‘stickier’ than the bank had expected but that interest rates are still expected to trend downwards. How fast and how far is less clear.

“It is also difficult to assess how far the current weakness in growth is down to weak demand or weak supply,” he told the meeting. “There may have been some structural change following the various shocks to the UK economy which would also have a material impact on the outlook.

“In terms of inflation some may ask why interest rates are coming down when inflation is still rising.

“We believe there are a number of factors that will bring inflation back to target over the forecast period, not least the slack that is emerging in the labour market as the number of vacancies fall and with continuing evidence that wage inflation is easing.

“The Monetary Policy Committee is still expecting rates to come down, albeit maybe not as quick as many anticipated earlier in the year.”

He added: “It’s great to meet with businesses in this way and hear the issues they are facing as it helps to put some real-world context behind the data we are seeing.”

Corin Crane, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “We’re incredibly grateful to the businesses who gave up their time to feedback to the Bank in this