More than 80% of Irish-based firms are in stable or growth mode, but the economic recovery is being driven by only 40% of larger companies in the manufacturing and services sectors, a report has claimed.

Just under half of smallbusinesses are now stable and growing, which is the highest level since 2008, according to InterTradeIreland’s Business Monitor for the three months to the end of September.

The number of companies increasing staff levels has reached the highest level for five years, according to a survey by cross-border enterprise body InterTrade Ireland.

The amount of companies on the island of Ireland considering themselves to be in growth mode has risen by 30% in the past 12 months or so.

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

Too few companies are applying for finance or exploiting innovation, a new study by cross-border trade body, InterTrade Ireland has found.

More bosses expect to hire workers than fire workers in 2013, a survey of senior executives indicates.

Low demand for goods and services is keeping 85% of Irish businesses in decline, according to an all-island survey by IntertradeIreland.

ONE in every two businesses is in survival mode, with the growth plans of one in three enterprises constrained by a lack of access to finance, according to a survey to be published today.

AGRI-FOOD sales figures are providing a lone source of optimism for businesses north and south, according to the latest Business Monitor from InterTradeIreland.

JUST under 50% of Irish firms remain in a state of contraction, according to a new report, suggesting that the jobs challenge facing the economy is likely to persist rather than relent in the near future.

NEARLY half of the companies in Ireland are either downsizing or struggling for survival, according to InterTrade Ireland.

ONE-in-three businesses switched electricity supplier in the final quarter of 2010 as businesses fight to reduce costs, according to research undertaken by Perceptive Insight and Oxford Economics on behalf of InterTradeIreland.

THE latest quarterly findings of InterTrade Ireland – the North-South trade and business development body – show that the recession has hit firms harder than initially envisaged; with 28% of companies saying they failed to remain profitable.

MORE than half of businesses have cut their prices in the last six months but figures show this has done little to improve profitability.

TRADE levels between companies in the Republic and Northern Ireland have more than doubled in the past 15 years, a Dáil Committee heard yesterday.

Almost three out of every five (58%) of businesses in Ireland and the North reported a drop in turnover in the second quarter of 2009, according to the results of a new survey released today.

ALMOST three quarters of Irish companies are “very optimistic” regarding their business performance over the next three years, according to a new survey.

Business owners in the North are suffering less at the hands of the recession than their counterparts south of the border, new research revealed today.

BUSINESSES in the South are suffering far more than those in the North resulting in more jobs being slashed.

More than 1,000 delegates from the small- and medium-sized business sector across the globe are meeting in Belfast today to discuss how to maintain their competitiveness in the current economic downturn.

Despite the weaker economic climate, business confidence for the future of an all-island economy remains resilient, according to a report issued today.

THE volume of Irish cross-border trade has continued to grow, topping the half-billion euro mark in the final three months of last year, new figures reveal.

Trade between Ireland and Northern Ireland increased by 0.86% in the last quarter of 2003.