The reopening of pubs and non-essential shops in England has seen a boom in private sector growth, reports have shown.
Reports have shown that the UK’s private sector is growing at its fastest rate since 2013 – following a flood of increased demand as businesses are able to open their doors once again.
The Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a poll that asks companies about the orders they’ve received and their confidence levels in the outlook for their business, saw a rise from 56.4 in March to 60 earlier this month. A reading of 50 or more points to growth.
Chris Williamson of IHS Markit had this to say when speaking with The Independent:
“Companies are reporting a surge in demand for both goods and services as the economy opens up from lockdowns and the encouraging vaccine rollout adds to a brighter outlook. In more than 23 years of PMI history, we have only seen one spell of faster growth than this, recorded between August and November 2013.”
Data gathered in the poll also indicated an improvement in the jobs markets, with a steep increase in the number of companies creating and recruiting new roles.
In a separate study, it was seen that many retail businesses had already seen an unexpected boost just prior to lockdown restrictions easing – as shoppers stocked up on new outfits and the like.
In fact, spending was up on average 7.3% versus March 2021.
“With all sectors showing an improvement relative to March, we believe this points to further strength in the economy in the months ahead,” said Dean Turner, an economist at UBS Global Wealth Management, “as today’s retail sales numbers signal, consumers and firms stand ready to unleash some of the pent-up demand which has been accumulated in recent months.”
With the UK set to lift all restriction by mid-June, this trend is hopefully only set to continue as rules on social distancing relax and businesses in all sectors are able to reopen.
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