The morale and activity of businesses in Indre-et-Loire is at half mast

While the state budget is currently being debated in the National Assembly and the government is seeking to make 60 billion euros in savings, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Indre-et-Loire publishes a barometer on business health. Last September, 536 bosses of the department responded to a survey on the morale and activity of their company. And this morale is rather at half mast, since almost half of them – 45% – report a lower level of activity than last year.

Concretely, this lower level of activity results in “less order intake”as explained by Philippe Roussy, president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Indre-et-Loire. However, he notes that on this drop in activity we are “around the same figures as last year”. The CCI barometer notes a deteriorating situation for three years. On the other hand, there is an improvement in the drop in company margins, which shows “let us begin to digest the effects of inflation”according to Philippe Roussy.

Cash flow and recruitment difficulties

The president of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry explains the drop in activity of businesses in Indre-et-Loire by several factors. First of all “the slowdown of the economy”which we observe at the national level, but also “cash flow difficulties” of certain companies. “Some companies have difficulty getting paid by their customers so it's starting to have an impact, it's a chainexplains Philippe Roussy. We are very vigilant so that there is no cascade at the level of the subcontracting chain in particular.”

There are also, like everywhere in the country, recruitment difficulties among companies in Indre-et-Loire. “It remains a problem since more than 69% report recruitment difficultiesnotes Philippe Roussy. But last year it was 78% so we have a little less, this is easily explained since job offers have fallen.”

As for a potential effect of current budgetary instability on businesses in the department, “for the moment we cannot make plans on the comet since nothing has been voted ontempers Philippe Roussy. What is certain is that to do business, you need trust. At the moment we don't have many and that's perhaps what explains the slowdown.”

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