Is business confidence returning?

People are still finding the money to spend on plants

Unemployment is still a worry, cash is still not flowing freely and there is not much about for borrowing, but it is not all gloom in Shropshire.

The county's Chamber of Commerce believes that there are positive signs that the worst of the recession may be over.

The chamber's latest quarterly economic survey shows that there seems to be a mood of optimism in some businesses.

So much so that new enterprises are opening their doors.

The recession: How is it for you?

New businesses

Although there are still quite a number of empty and boarded up shops in most towns and charity shops are very much in evidence, three entrepreneurs in Shrewsbury feel confident enough to start up new businesses.

A new wine bar opens in Shrewsbury soon

Ashley's Cafe Wine Bar on the corner of Market Street opens its doors at the end of October and will cater for people over the age of 25.

Ashley Davies, who owns the business thinks he could be onto a winner: "There's a lot of farming industry round here. There's a lot of people who are retired.

"They have the money and people do want to go out and socialise, but they find there aren't the places to go."

Growing success

Barbara Shough was confident when she started her new plant shop in September.

We have plants at £680 and £60 or £70 and they are selling. So we haven't felt the recession Barbara Shough

She called it Thrives on Neglect and stocked it with the most exclusive and expensive plants: " It's going really, really well. We're very pleased."

She believes people still have the money to spend on plants, even the most costly: We have plants at £680 and £60 or £70 and they are all selling. So we haven't felt the recession."

Former shop manager, Chris Nash has always wanted to be her own boss and recently opened PaNash in Shrewsbury town centre selling clothes and accessories.

Chris Nash says her new clothes shop is doing well

She did not let the economic climate affect her decision to start her own business: "I don't know whether there's ever a good or a bad time really. I feel if you've got the confidence to do something and want to do it hard enough you'll make every effort to succeed."

She happy with the way the venture is going and has had to re-order some goods to keep the shelves stocked up.

Quarterly survey

Alan Lane, from Shropshire Chamber of Commerce said there had been an upturn in sales and orders and business confidence was returning.

But there were still negative indicators: "Concerns about cash availability, bank lending, are still high. Unemployment is a lagging indicator in a recession, however results are encouraging in that the number of companies reporting a decrease in their workforce has levelled off."

The survey shows that over the past three quarters of this year businesses are showing a steady improvement and a majority of chamber members believe that turnover will improve but that does not necessarily mean an increase in profitability.

The biggest worries of those who took part in the survey are cash availability, interest rates, business rates, competition and corporate taxation.