Businesses in Tauranga more confident

The latest Tauranga Chamber of Commerce Quarterly Business Confidence Survey shows that when it comes to their own business situation, 52% of respondents expect their situation to improve in the next six months - which is an improvement on the last survey figures.

40% thought their situation would remain the same and 8% believed it would get worse.

The Business Confidence Survey of 144 Tauranga businesses was undertaken electronically by the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce last week.

However, in terms of the New Zealand general business situation 32% thought it would improve, 50% thought it would stay the same and 18% said it would deteriorate.

Tauranga Chamber of Commerce chief executive Max Mason says the survey results indicate that businesses are still waiting for an economic recovery "and are in it for the long haul."

"We are seeing some good things - a net 44% of business owners believe their own business situation will improve in the coming six months and that's an increase of 6% since May. Another way to look at it would be to say 92% think their situation will stay the same or get better."

Among other findings, 19% of respondents were continuing to find it difficult to employ skilled staff.

Also significant is that 41% of businesses identified demand as the main limiting factor to growth. "That's a bit of a surprise actually. I expected it to be higher."

Mr Mason says with demand being an issue, it was important New Zealand businesses looked outside the borders towards the dynamic Asian economy. "If New Zealand firms are going to grow they should be thinking about how they can access those markets and Government agencies should be looking at how they can work with business to make this happen."

"It shouldn't be just about a strong agricultural sector - we should have a broad range of businesses taking advantage of the free trade agreements which successive governments have put in place to help New Zealand businesses and the economy grow."