By Greg Wright

Published 18th Jul 2023, 08:41 BST

Deloitte’s UK CFO Survey for the second quarter of 2023 found that business leaders were expressing concerns over persistent price pressures and the potential implications of further interest rate rises.

Almost half of respondents (45 per cent) now rate the levels of external financial and economic uncertainty facing their businesses as high or very high, up from 39 per cent in the first quarter of 2023.

Ian Stewart, chief economist at Deloitte, said: “The burst of business optimism seen in the spring has faded under the weight of inflation and rising interest rates. Corporates have responded with an increasing focus on cost reduction and cash control.

Inflationary pressure and rising rate expectations are weighing on corporate optimism, according to a new survey. (Photo Ian West/PA Wire)

“Businesses have negotiated a series of major challenges in the last four years, including the UK’s departure from the EU, the pandemic and supply shortages.

"The legacy of those earlier shocks, in the form of inflation and high interest rates, is now the central challenge.”

When asked about hybrid working, CFOs estimate that employees in their organisations who can work remotely split their time evenly between the office and home, working on average 2.6 days from the office per week. CFOs say they would prefer this to rise to approximately three and a half days in the office every week.

Mr Stewart said: “Three years on from the start of the pandemic, CFOs say they would like to see employees spend rather more time in the office.”

Corporate optimism dipped during the second quarter, says Deloitte survey