Confidence at record high among exporters

And, although the volume of exports in goods fell overall compared with the previous quarter, they increased for 42% of manufacturing firms in the fourth quarter of 2013, according to research from the British Chambers of Commerce and DHL. The BCC said: "The volume of exports for goods fell slightly this quarter – representing a decrease of 3.1% compared with Q3 2013 and 0.9% compared with the same quarter last year. Businesses are confident, but if we are to reach the government's target of increasing exports to £1 trillion by 2020, more must be done to help firms break into fast-growing markets abroad." However, the BCC/DHL Trade Confidence Index, which measures both UK exporting activity and business confidence, shows that more than one third of exporting firms (34%) said that they expected to increase staff over the next quarter. BCC director general John Longworth said: "What we must take away from this research is that the confidence of our exporters is at a new high. This counts for a lot, as it shows ambition and willingness for businesses to export even more in 2014. "But we can't ignore the fact that the volume of exports were down at the end of last year. We cannot afford to sit back and expect exports to increase without dedicated hard work and support."