The survey, which is delivered in partnership with Prime Accountants Group and measures how business owners are feeling, is analysed by the Business Intelligence Service at Warwickshire County Council.
From the responses of businesses across the service and manufacturing sectors, it gives scores out of 100 where anything above 50 indicates growth and anything below 50 is negative.
It looks at a range of aspects of doing business in the region, including the outlook for employment, investment, confidence, and current and future orderbooks for both domestic and overseas sales.
The survey showed that businesses in services and manufacturing had seen an uptick in domestic orders compared to three months ago but that overseas sales had remained flat.
It also indicated that employment prospects had improved compared to the last survey data, while investment decisions and cashflow had been boosted too.
On the whole, it led to an improvement in confidence and an overall economic outlook score of 60.2 compared to 50.3 in the second quarter of the year.
Corin Crane, chief executive of the Coventry and Warwickshire Chamber of Commerce, said: “The survey shows, once again, the real resilience of businesses here in Coventry and Warwickshire. When faced with the most incredibly challenging circumstances they simply knuckle down, innovate and continue to make this an amazing place to do business.
“However, there is absolutely no doubting that these are really difficult times for firms and we are urging the Chancellor to avoid any fresh taxes or cost rises for businesses in the November Budget.
“A growth in confidence on our patch is positive news but we know from speaking to businesses on a day to day basis that it’s still a tough climate out there and we want to see this November’s Budget offer a real incentive to grow.”
Steve Harcourt, director of Prime Accountants Group and president of the Chamber, added: “Confidence improved at the time of the survey but I know from experience that business sentiment is still fragile at the moment because firms are having to contend with so many different issues both domestically and globally.
“We, therefore, want to see a budget that encourages growth through investment in infrastructure, support with exports and further action on skills.”
Todd Williams, Insight Analyst at Warwickshire County Council, said: “Quarter three at a national level rose modestly primarily due to an increase in services output, alongside continued weakness in manufacturing output. Weak overseas orders are working through the UK supply chain, leading to weak domestic orders.
“Meanwhile, the latest QES results show the local economy surging, with strong confidence. Local sentiment around overseas sales remains extremely low, with cashflow and investment continuing to be weak in the local services sector.
“Local concerns around labour costs remain significant for both the services and manufacturing sectors, with the manufacturing sector also being very concerned about raw material costs and utilities. Local recruitment difficulties are a mixed picture, a slight improvement for the services sector being offset by severe challenges in the manufacturing sector.
“Furthermore, local investment and training remain weak for the services sector, yet both are very strong for the manufacturing sector. The local services sector is also very concerned about labour costs and taxation. Despite these concerns, local employment is not expected to decrease, contrary to the national picture.
“The results show that the overall economic outlook index for Coventry and Warwickshire exceeding the national trend in many ways. Local and national manufacturing and services businesses continue to be positive about the domestic market. Nevertheless, very weak local sentiments around exports remain a significant concern.”
