Business climate 'to deteriorate'

The UK is now in recession for the first time since 1991

More than half of firms in the South East believe the business climate will get worse over the next year, according to figures seen by BBC South East.

The survey commissioned by the South East England Development Agency (SEEDA) is released on Tuesday.

The Ipsos Mori survey found 48% of firms in Kent, 51% in West Sussex, 57% in East Sussex, and 59% in Surrey think things will get worse.

It comes three days after confirmation the UK economy is in recession.

The survey found that only 8% of firms in Surrey, 15% in Kent, and 14% in both East and West Sussex believed their profits would rise this year.

Construction industry

More than half of the businesses in Kent, and almost two-thirds in Surrey and across Sussex, also said they believed they were operating below capacity.

The construction industry is the least confident sector, followed by distribution and manufacturing.

However, 24% of businesses in West Sussex, 34% in East Sussex, 21% in Kent and 19% in Surrey expect lower numbers of people in employment this year.

Official government figures confirmed on Friday that the UK is now in recession for the first time since 1991, following two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth.

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South East faces bleak year