Small business owners put on brave face

Although small business confidence remains at its lowest, it is the first time since April 2007 that confidence has not fallen quarter on quarter, found the bank's Small Business Confidence Index. The index measures small business optimism by analysing economic conditions, customer demand, recruitment intentions, predicted turnover and difficulty of running a business. More than 1,000 owners and senior executives with an annual turnover of up to £1m were surveyed. The research also found around one in six small business owners believe now is a good time to be running a small company i...