Business confidence in the UK reached a record low during October as the outlook for the economy became increasingly pessimistic, according to a new survey.
Findings from Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets Business Barometer revealed that 14 per cent of respondents were more optimistic about the economy with 69 per cent being more pessimistic.
More than a quarter of respondents stated that they expected business activity to decrease, an increase from the previous month, said the firm.
According to the bank, the outlook would have been worse if it had not been for the industrial sector and the confidence balance for firms increasing by 30 per cent during October.
Trevor Williams, chief economist, Lloyds TSB Corporate Markets, stated that the businesses left in the UK manufacturing output are highly productive and use the fall in the pound to compete aggressively overseas.
"Elsewhere in the UK the outlook is far from rosy. Rising unemployment and the high cost of borrowing means business confidence continues to break survey records, as firms take an increasingly bleak view of their prospects," he stated.
Meanwhile, recent research from the firm showed that a third of UK workers had been employed outside the UK.
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