CBI survey shows firms cutting hiring and investment as profits squeezed, with outlook gloomy for rest of year
Business confidence plunged this month across the UK’s services sector as mounting cost pressures and weak demand hit profits and undermined the outlook for the rest of the year.
The CBI’s latest service sector poll found that a majority of companies were gloomy about their prospects and discounted the acceleration in activity that usually follows the return to work after the summer break.
Falling sales and rising costs meant most firms were suffering a profit squeeze, the CBI said, leading to lower hiring and cuts to investment.
Consumer services firms reported a negative outlook for the eighth consecutive month while services companies that sell to other businesses reported a decline in activity for the fourth consecutive month.
