Around a tenth of respondents felt that uncertainty had increased and less than five percent felt that the outlook had become less uncertain. The findings are consistent with the results of the latest Decision Makers Panel survey (Box 2).
The results were also broadly similar across sectors, but small companies were more likely than larger businesses to report that uncertainty had increased.
Companies expected output growth to remain positive relative to a year ago over the period to the end of October. Investment intentions were marginally positive, consistent with subdued investment spending in the near term. Employment growth was expected to be only slightly positive.
When asked how the extension had affected contingency planning, around half of all respondents said they would maintain their contingency plans over the extension period, and around one quarter of respondents said they would do more contingency planning ahead of the 31 October deadline (Chart B). Nearly 90% of all respondents said they had implemented some form of contingency plan.