British business confidence at peak since 2007 crisis

British business confidence is at peak level since the global financial crisis of 2007, as the UK economy seems to be on track to beat the Bank of England forecast for the second quarter of this year.

Export sales in the services sector touched their best levels since records started in 1989 with manufacturing firms doing better than at any time in the past year, according the quarterly survey from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC).

According to the figures, gross domestic product (GDP) growth for the period from April to June could reach as high as 0.6 per cent, double that of the first quarter of 2013.

New Bank of England governor Mark Carney would be pleasantly surprised, as this was an improvement on their forecast of 0.5 per cent for the same period. The BCC's growth projection of 0.9 per cent for the whole year also now looks set to be bettered.

According to John Longworth, director general of the BCC, British firms were doing their utmost to drive recovery and the sheer strength of export balances showed that companies had untapped potential for expansion.

However, some persistent signs of infirmity point to the new governor would not be able to wash his hands off what he recently described as a ''crisis economy''.

The proportion of UK services companies reporting increasing exports was up to a record high in the second quarter, a closely-watched survey by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) showed.

The balance of exports for services, which is the difference between the percentage of companies with rising and falling exports increased to 36 per cent between April and June, the highest since the survey started 1989.

The BCC said exports from the manufacturing sector also imported, a finding reinforced by a separate survey that showed a boost in new orders helped factory activity rise at the fastest pace for over two years in June.

The BCC's gauges for employment, business confidence, and profitability were also up in the second quarter of the year.

According to David Kern, chief economist at the BCC, the improvement in most key balances in Q2, building on the upturn recorded in Q1, supported its view that the UK economy was slowly strengthening.

He added that if recent progress could be sustained, there were ''realistic hopes'' the BCC's current estimate that the economy would grow 0.6 per cent this year would be revised up further.