Scottish small business confidence 'falters'

Small business confidence has fallen in Scotland following a drop in revenues and profits, a survey has found.

Firms north of the border are also much less confident than businesses in the UK as a whole, according to the Federation of Small Businesses (FSB).

However, its latest quarterly report found most firms still intended to recruit more staff and invest.

FSB said the findings should act as a "timely reminder that a sustained recovery is far from guaranteed".

A net balance of +6% of businesses surveyed reported an increase in revenue over the last three months, down from +17% at the same point last year.

'Choppy waters'

The number of firms experiencing a rise in profits also fell, ending a run of five quarters of uninterrupted profit growth.

FSB Scottish policy convener Andy Willox said: "With revenues and profits taking a hit, it's little wonder that confidence has dropped.

"Even in these choppy waters, though, it's good to see small businesses continuing to do their bit by creating new jobs and investing for the long term.

"And the improving credit market will make it easier to turn firms' plans into reality.

"We need to make sure that the small businesses on whom resilient local economies are founded get paid for the work they do, get a fair deal from regulators, and can easily hire the right staff with the right skills."

'Rollercoaster of risks'

In a separate development, manufacturers' organisation EEF said it was halving its 2015 manufacturing growth forecast for the UK to 0.7%.

Its latest quarterly outlook survey suggested there was a "rollercoaster of risks" ahead caused by global economic uncertainty.

It said bright spots provided by domestic consumer demand and construction activity were "not enough to hold the shadow of global factors at bay".

The report found export orders in particular had suffered, in response to continued problems in Europe over the summer and a slowdown in emerging markets.