Lloyds Bank research has revealed that confidence levels among companies in the Humber and Yorkshire areas rose during September, marking the fourth month in a row where this was the case.

Lloyds publishes its Business Barometer every month to track the state of companies in the UK, and the September edition shows that firms in the Humber and Yorkshire region reported a month-on-month rise to -5% in their feelings of confidence about the future. Combined with their feelings of overall economic optimism, this puts the business confidence levels of firms in that region at -8%, which is a rise of 5% on the figure for the previous month.

Most of the firms in this region that took part in the September Business Barometer stated that the month saw demand for their services or products continuing to be impacted by COVID-19. In total, 61% of them indicated that demand had dropped during September, which is 2% more than the figure for August. On the other hand, 13% reported a rise in levels of demand, with this being 6% more than the August figure.

Speaking to Insider Media, the Regional Director of Lloyds Bank Commercial Banking Yorkshire, Steve Harris, noted that:

“Confidence among Yorkshire businesses is steadily improving, having increased each month since the historic low of May – but there’s still a way to go before we see restored optimism overall.”

Talking to qualified accountants in South Yorkshire about ways to manage their finances during periods of crisis is one way for businesses to boost confidence in the future.