- London and East of England remain top-performers for output growth
- Growth expectations improve in most areas
- Stubborn inflationary pressures signalled
Sebastian Burnside, NatWest Chief Economist, commented: “There were pockets of solid business activity growth across the UK in July, namely in London and the East of England. In total, seven areas saw business activity rise in July, and several more were in or close to so-called recovery territory, with July's performance either in line with or better than the trend over the past six months. "The results were achieved amidst a backdrop of demand headwinds and stubbornly high price pressures, with firms across the UK indicating growing challenges when it comes to winning new business, as well cost increases that continue to outpace the long-run average. "Local job markets continue feel the effects of the recent instability and the rise in labour costs, with employment falling in most areas in July. "Nevertheless, a rise in growth expectations across the majority of nations and regions suggests that there's a sense among businesses that the worst of the disruption from the hikes in National Insurance and tariff uncertainty has passed."
Business activity growth in July was led by London and the East of England, with positive contributions also coming from the South East, North East, South West, West Midlands and East Midlands. Yorkshire & Humber was at the bottom of the rankings, recording its fastest fall in output for six months. Activity was meanwhile down slightly in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
Please see the regional reports in full:
- UK National (PDF, 1.7MB)
- East of England (PDF, 917.4KB)
- East Midlands (PDF, 947.7KB)
- London (PDF, 875.2KB)
- North East (PDF, 885.4KB)
- North West (PDF, 1.9MB)
- Scotland (PDF, 876.5KB)
- South East (PDF, 1.9MB)
- South West (PDF, 955.1MB)
- Wales (PDF, 950.8KB)
- West Midlands (PDF, 2.5MB)
- Yorkshire and the Humber (PDF, 5.6MB)
