South East: Business leaders expect interest rate increase by end of 2016, says Close Brothers

The majority of business owners and managers in the South East are not planning today to cope with future Bank of England interest rate rises, despite 70% expecting an increase before the end of 2016.

The most recent results of the Close Brothers Business Barometer, a quarterly survey that canvasses the views of small to medium-sized business owners and senior management across the country, show that just 17% of those polled in the region have considered taking precautionary measures.

Mike Randall, CEO of Close Brothers Asset Finance, says the results may indicate a degree of uncertainty about how UK interest rates could behave in the next 12 months against the backdrop of a general election, zero inflation and an under-performing eurozone.

“Our survey shows that 18% of firms in the South East believe the base rate will rise before the end of the year, with a further 47% expecting it to come in before the end of 2016,” said Randall. “It sounds as if many business managers and owners find it too hard to call, yet it is generally understood that interest rates can’t stay this low forever.

“We would encourage businesses to put a contingency plan in place to cope with a UK base rate rise as it could have a dramatic impact on their operations, making borrowing more expensive and impact cashflows as more is needed to service debt.

“All major industrial sectors covered in our survey pinpoint 2016 as the year when these rates will increase, yet precious few are thinking today about the consequences and we would urge them to do so,” added Randall. “The time to act is now.”