A Chambers of Commerce economic report, covering the West Midlands Combined Authority area that takes in the Black Country, Cannock and Lichfield, found that 20 per cent of businesses surveyed reported an increase in international sales compared to 17 per cent the previous quarter.
However, at a time when UK firms were getting to grips with the new EU trading arrangements, the percentage of businesses expecting their international output to increase over the next three months fell – from 19 to 17 per cent.
This was particularly evident in the manufacturing sector with 33 per cent of firms surveyed expecting their export orders to fall over the next three months compared to 23 per cent the previous quarter. On the other hand, the percentage of service firms expecting to see an increase in international sales increased from 11 to 13 per cent for the first three months of the year.
In terms of UK sales, there was only a slight improvement overall in the number of firms reporting an increase at 32 per cent compared to 31 per cent in the previous…
