A new study suggests that confidence among London businesses is on the rise, having more than doubled in the last six months.
According to the latest London Business Survey, which was published by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the CBRE in recent days, almost a quarter (22 per cent) of City businesses feel confident about how the UK economy will perform over the next six months.
This is up from just 10 per cent of businesses that said the same when asked the same question in the third quarter (Q3) of last year, the report reveals.
Nevertheless, uncertainties surrounding Britain’s eventual departure from the European Union (EU) are still weighing heavily on businesses, with 66 per cent citing Brexit as the biggest issue their organisation faces in the short and medium-term.
A further 35 per cent said that they had a ‘Brexit contingency plan’ in place, while 26 per cent added that they were planning on drawing up a contingency plan in the near future.
Interestingly, the survey also found that the City’s so-called housing crisis was having an adverse effect on employee retention and recruitment for London firms.
66 per cent of businesses told the report that they felt a lack of affordable housing in and around London was having a negative impact on their ability to recruit entry-level staff, while 59 per cent said that the housing crisis had impacted their ability to recruit and retain mid-level management staff.
Furthermore, the report found that a large number of firms (44 per cent) were being forced to offer premium salaries in order to recruit and retain staff.
In addition, 28 per cent of businesses said that some employees had left their roles because they were struggling to afford living costs in the local area.