Scottish businesses eye vaccine rebound as confidence takes a knock in November

Fraser Sime, regional director for Scotland at Bank of Scotland Commercial Banking, said confidence has faltered.

Business confidence in Scotland has taken a knock this month but the prospect of a widespread vaccine rollout offers some hope, a survey today reveals.

Confidence levels fell ten points during the month to -38 per cent, according to the latest business barometer from Bank of Scotland Commercial Banking.

Companies in Scotland reported lower confidence in their own business prospects, down six points month-on-month at -27 per cent. When taken alongside their views of the economy overall, this gives the headline confidence reading of -38 per cent.

Quizzed over hiring intentions, a net balance of 43 per cent expect to reduce staff levels over the next year, up 11 points on the previous month.

At a UK-wide level, the report tracked a sharp increase in business confidence after the announcement that the Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine has 90 per cent efficacy against Covid-19.

Firms surveyed after the announcement had an overall confidence of -15 per cent, which was seven points higher than those polled before, between the 2 and 8 November. For the month as a whole, UK business confidence registered at -21 per cent, down three points on October.

Fraser Sime, regional director for Scotland at Bank of Scotland Commercial Banking, said: “Confidence has faltered on the backdrop of a tightening of restrictions across large parts of Scotland.