“WE’RE not out of the woods yet.”

That’s the message following the release of the latest economic report from the regional Chambers of Commerce.

It showed while business confidence improved in the final quarter of 2020, there were imbalances across different sectors.

The West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce’s report, conducted just as the second national lockdown started in November last year, saw a manufacturing rebound following a very challenging year.

Domestic and international sales were up on the previous quarter for many and the report suggests manufacturing improvements might have been as a result of orders being brought forward, or suppliers looking for more certainty by purchasing from UK companies, ahead of the end of the EU transition period.

The Chamber found significant variations across the service sector, with restrictions particularly damaging for the leisure, hospitality, accommodation and catering sectors.

However, professional services, including regulatory, compliance and essential business-to-business services, reported domestic sales had improved on the previous two quarters.

Speaking on the results, Suzanne Watson, President of Bradford Chamber said: “The Covid crisis has tested our business community to the limit and sadly we have seen many jobs lost and industries hollowed out across our region.

“Our city centres have seen significant downturn in footfall and our High Streets are unlikely to return back to how we knew them before the crisis.

“Yet despite all of this I remain optimistic that our economy will recover and that there are some positive messages to take from the latest Chamber findings.

“Clearly we are not out of the woods yet, and the imposition of the latest lockdown is testament to this but the development and roll out of a vaccine will bring some comfort to many.”

Roger Marsh OBE DL, Chair of the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership and Chair and NP11, added: “In the final quarter of 2020, there are signs of improvement in manufacturing where increasing sales have driven the sector back into growth territory for the first time since 2019.

“While economic activity still remains low, in both export and domestic activity, there are signs of recovery with both foreign and UK sales improving significantly from Q3.”

He added: “It is positive to see business confidence rise from the previous quarter alongside business investment which has returned to growth.

“Capital investment has grown in both the manufacturing and service sectors, however this positivity does contrast with the employment outlook with many businesses reporting a reduction in headcount in the last quarter.”