ISME: Small firms 'in the throes of economic despair'

The Irish Small and Medium Enterprise's second quarterly trends survey for 2009 has confirmed that employment levels, investment and sales are extremely negative for smaller companies.

The survey, which attracted a response from over 600 companies, confirms that there has been no improvement in the second quarter and the indicators are that the next 12 months will continue to be extremely challenging, with companies further readjusting downwards their employment and investment levels.