Business Confidence in Scotland Survey

[barryhynd]

There are many media reports in Scotland suggesting that business confidence in Scotland is waning. I'm pretty sure in certain sectors that it is but i'd like to ask whether Scotlands SME's feel the same way.

We'd like you to come and share your views

[Idea15]

What's happening in the economy is a correction that's long been due and the sad thing is, everybody knows it. Funny money, easy credit, and a banking sector which has played by its own rules have created a good-time bubble and all good things must come to an end.

Five years ago when the other half and I were shopping around for our first home, we had a combined income of less than

[TomB]

No I have no sympathy for the banking sector either, serves them right for being greedy.

i have every confidence in the Scottish Economy, i think all this panic journalism is going to send us into recession if they don't stop panicking people.

I admit things will be tight for people with mortgage rates, but then there has been too much, well not too much cheap credit, but I don't think the banks have been responsibly lending, I think all the have been seeing is

[Idea15]

Originally Posted by TomB

I don't think the banks have been responsibly lending

That was one of the things which immediately shocked me when I started dealing with the financial system in the UK - major, life-changing financial decisions are being made by 19 year olds on sales commission tables who have no business experience and still live with their parents. I can't tell you how bizarre it is to be sitting down with a "mortgage advisor" who is chewing gum, babbling about her holiday in Ibiza, and has already calculated how much cash she will take home if you get a 6x mortgage. The banks have a lot to answer for on every level.

[Former Member 1]

Originally Posted by barryhynd

There are many media reports in Scotland suggesting that business confidence in Scotland is waning. I'm pretty sure in certain sectors that it is but i'd like to ask whether Scotlands SME's feel the same way.

We'd like you to come and share your views

I spent the week before last down in Wales filming for one of the county councils down there. Although there was little opportunity for socialising the despondency and general lack of faith in the future was very real and very apparent. And a bit of a shock coming from a country where much of the feedback I'm getting is 'Crisis? What Crisis??' .

What surprised me is that the (English) PR company representative who works for a Scottish company and has lived here for half his life seemed to reflect some of that despondency. Thoroughly decent chap though he is I have to say I struggled with his perspective.

But then I don't see myself as a part of what's going on South of the Border; he does! Unfortunately much of what passes for a Scottish press and media comes from a similar background and reflects a similar view. Sadly (in terms of journalistic accuracy) it's not a realistic one.

I think in some quarters too there's a certain resentment that the Scottish Economy is proving to be more robust than that in the rest of the UK. I'll draw short of naming names but I'm aware that certain individuals in English newsrooms would love to talk us into a crisis. Methinks instead they'll have to content themselves with the lie that somehow their failure is paying for our success.

So, on one hand I think we definitely DO have to accept these are troubled times it's merely a time to pause, think take stock and move forward with a fresh spring in your step.

[barryhynd]

My whole aim for this thread was to confirm my thoughts that business confidence in Scotland (in the SME market) is still there as I dont think the media is doing anything but painting a very bleak picture.

I wanted to have a poll which showed most businesses in Scotland still felt confident about future prospects. It's maybe a tad big headed to think that SBF could be the spokesman for the SME market in Scotland but I thought a voice saying that not all is bad could help (if they published it ).

I'm gonna try and promote this through our emails etc to see if I can get a real feel for how businesses are feeling.

[Former Member 1]

Originally Posted by barryhynd

My whole aim for this thread was to confirm my thoughts that business confidence in Scotland (in the SME market) is still there as I dont think the media is doing anything but painting a very bleak picture.

I wanted to have a poll which showed most businesses in Scotland still felt confident about future prospects. It's maybe a tad big headed to think that SBF could be the spokesman for the SME market in Scotland but I thought a voice saying that not all is bad could help (if they published it ).

I'm gonna try and promote this through our emails etc to see if I can get a real feel for how businesses are feeling.

A slightly wider spread of options might be good on the poll but I'd be pretty confident of most people expecting to at least hold their ground, a fair number expecting modest growth and a reasonable number with very high hopes....

You're right though about the media. And what galls me about the scaremongering is it's people's livelihoods they're playing games with. There's no legitimate reason for confidence to fall. But if it's driven down.... It's high time the 'EBC' et al realised they're there to report the facts not promote their own particular wee agendas....

[davidc]

Well done for this thread Barry. I really feel that some of this is down to the media. This current climate does not have high unemployment. Consumer confidence is low I think because every day and night television programmes, and newspapers are saying doom and gloom etc. Without this mortgages would be scarcer for a while untill the banks had recouped some cash, but that would be it...

[X-sailer]

The media have a lot to answer for,and part of the problem is that TV channels, like BBC NEWS have to fill 24 hours of news - which is a problem for 2 reasons. 1st they take anything they can get their hands on, and secondly they don't have time to check out whether it's accurate. In print media the days have gone of researching stories, the staff are mostly there to cut and paste from press releases pushed out by political parties, big business, and "think tanks" with separate agendas. Every day you find stories in print, on the TV and online, about the current "recession" which are inaccurate and misleading. Yesterday the Scotsman published a headline screaming the pound was suddenly falling dramatically against all currencies. When you look at the data it turns out it's the dollar that is rising against all currencies, and the pound is level pegging with the euro. In the article they misquote data as being "the lowest since..." when in fact it is the "lowest rise since....."

All this doomsaying does have an effect on spending, so the media have a significant responsibility to get it absolutely correct.