Martin Walder, EAMA chairman, says: “Firms in supply chains such as food, pharmaceuticals, rail and oil and gas are investing broadly to meet increased demand. At the same time access to finance seems to be easing. With more companies reporting improvements than difficulties for the second month in a row, some firms are definitely finding an improved environment with a possible trend emerging.  

“The Monitor is showing firms reporting positive average balances for the first seven months of the year both for working capital and for investment finance.  The averages are not strong (+8 for working capital and +5 for investment) but they are increasingly consistent and were noteworthy last month scoring +22 and +16 respectively. August is likely to be a quieter month with less business done.

“UK enquiries remained steady over all, but the up-tick amongst exporters this month wasn’t sufficient to offset the poor showing in June, so that the current three-month average balance is down on last year’s performance at this time.

“For the first time ever, Business Monitor order returns were identical for UK and for exports, with 32% reporting improvements, 40% no change and 28% declines in both categories, albeit indicating overall a big fall in the UK balance, from +24 to +4, and little change for overseas business (up from +2 to +4).

“Overall our expectations remain modest and little changed.  There are still far too many companies reporting fewer orders.  This cohort needs to see a big improvement in orders to give them full confidence. We’re looking to September now for trends on orders and access to finance, rather than the usually much slower month of August.”