Swansea Bay businesses have continued to grow in confidence in the second quarter of the year according to Swansea Bay Business Club’s latest Business Barometer, issued by the club’s Business Analysis Group.

The survey, which aims to measure business confidence throughout the Swansea Bay City region, had responses from businessmen and women from 11 different sectors including the creative, manufacturing and financial industries.

Over a quarter of respondents were from Carmarthenshire, reflective of the business club’s expansion in to West Wales over the last couple of years, with further responses coming from Swansea and Neath Port Talbot.

43% of those surveyed said that they had performed stronger over the last three months in comparison with the three before them and crucially a further 62% said that they expect to perform even stronger in the three months ahead.

Over half of respondents, 52% and 53% respectively, also said that they expected to see an increase in their staffing levels and capital investment.

President of Swansea Bay Business Club, Paul Gardner, commented:

“We are pleased to see that businesses across the region are continuing to perform to a high standard and retain a confident outlook for what lies ahead. It is a truly exciting time for the business community in the region with regeneration work beginning to take place across the city and beyond.

“The Tidal Lagoon decision is clearly a disappointment to the region and it will be interesting to see when we release the next barometer whether it has any adverse effect on sentiment.”

For the second quarter in a row the most commonly cited barrier to business growth was price pressure from customers with over 33% of those surveyed selecting this as the biggest problem they were facing.

Swansea Bay Business Club, which was established in 1949, is the regions oldest and largest business-networking group hosting events across the Swansea Bay City region throughout the year.