Morale returns for Irish businesses as sales rise

Two business surveys published yesterday found that business confidence has returned to Ireland and that sales have increased in the last quarter.

InterTradeIreland’s Business Monitor survey found that over 64% of businesses have either maintained or increased their sales over the last quarter, while Ireland France Chamber of Commerce (IFCC) found its members were reporting a modest to positive increase in business performance.

Strategy and policy director at InterTradeIreland Aidan Gough said there have been many false starts in the Irish recovery but it appeared that the business environment has stabilised.

“The road to recovery has proven to be long and challenging but there are now some positive trends emerging from our survey of businesses both North and South this quarter. The business environment is stabilising, with over half of companies describing their business as stable (51%), the haemorrhaging of jobs has stemmed and exporters are doing well.”

The InterTradeIreland findings were echoed by the IFCC whose members reported an increase in business activity levels over the past three months.

Despite positive findings 64% of IFCC members don’t believe that Ireland is doing enough to stimulate economic growth. However, the same percentage believe that Ireland will recover in the next two years, with the IT sector leading the recovery.

President of the IFCC, Gerry Halpenny of LK Shields, said: “The findings are very positive and indicate the Irish economy is starting to show signs of improvement with a significant majority seeing increased revenues over the last three months.”