Business Insights and Conditions Survey questions: 29 December 2021 to 9 January 2022

These questions are for Wave 47 of the fortnightly Business Insights and Conditions Survey (BICS) dispatched on the 29th December. These are the most up-to-date survey questions.

Which of the following statements best describes your business's trading status?

• Currently fully trading

• Currently partially trading

• Paused trading but intends to restart in the next two weeks

• Paused trading and does not intend to restart in the next two weeks

• Permanently ceased trading

Where in the UK are your sites temporarily or permanently closed, if any?

• Northern Ireland

• Scotland

• Wales

• East of England

• East Midlands

• Greater London

• North East of England

• North West of England

• South East of England

• South West of England

• West Midlands

• Yorkshire and The Humber

• Not sure

• Do not have any sites

• None of our sites are temporarily or permanently closed

How does your business's turnover over the last month compare with normal expectations for this time of year?

• Turnover has increased by more than 50%

• Turnover has increased between 20% and 50%

• Turnover has increased by up to 20%

• Turnover has not been affected

• Turnover has decreased by up to 20%

• Turnover has decreased between 20% and 50%

• Turnover has decreased by more than 50%

• Not sure

What was the main reason for this change to your business's turnover over the last month?

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

• End of the EU transition period

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the end of the EU transition period

• Other

• Not sure

What are your expectations about turnover for the next month?

• Expect turnover to substantially increase

• Expect turnover to increase a little

• Expect turnover to stay the same

• Expect turnover to decrease a little

• Expect turnover to substantially decrease

• Not sure

Which of the following best describes your business's exporting status?

• Exported in the last 12 months

• Exported more than 12 months ago

• Never exported but have goods or services that could be developed for export

• Never exported and do not have goods or services suitable for export

• Not sure

Has your business exported goods or services in the last 12 months?

• Exported goods only

• Exported services only

• Exported both goods and services

• Not sure

How does your business's exporting over the last month compare with normal expectations for this time of year?

• Exporting more than normal

• Exporting as normal

• Exporting, but less than normal

• Unable to export in the last month

• Not sure

How does the cost of exporting over the last month compare with normal expectations for this time of year?

• Cost has increased

• Cost has stayed the same

• Cost has decreased

• Not sure

How does the time spent on exporting over the last month compare with normal expectations for this time of year?

• Time spent has increased

• Time spent has stayed the same

• Time spent has decreased

• Not sure

Have you experienced any of the following challenges with exporting goods or services over the last month?

• Additional paperwork

• Basing some staff in an EU member state to be allowed to work

• Change in transportation costs

• Closure of infrastructure used to export goods or services

• Customs duties or levies

• Destination countries changing their border restrictions

• Disruption at UK borders

• Finding information on how to export

• Lack of hauliers to transport goods or lack of logistics equipment

• Reduced demand for products and services

• Time taken for checks at the border

• Work permit or visa restrictions, or lack of mutual recognition of professional qualifications

• Other

• Did not experience any challenges with exporting over the last month

What was the main cause of these exporting challenges?

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

• End of the EU transition period

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the end of the EU transition period

• Other

• Not sure

Which of the following support options has your business benefitted from, to help with exporting challenges?

• Customs and tariffs

• Export licences

• Financial support

• Finding new markets

• Finding new overseas contacts or customers

• Information on exporting

• Legal support

• Transport and distribution

• Understanding markets and demand issues

• Other

• None of the above

Which of the following best describes your business's importing status?

• Imported in the last 12 months

• Imported more than 12 months ago

• Never imported

• Not sure

Has your business imported goods or services in the last 12 months?

• Imported goods only

• Imported services only

• Imported both goods and services

• Not sure

How does your business's importing over the last month compare with normal expectations for this time of year?

• Importing more than normal

• Importing as normal

• Importing, but less than normal

• Unable to import in the last month

• Not sure

How does the cost of importing over the last month compare with normal expectations for this time of year?

• Cost has increased

• Cost has stayed the same

• Cost has decreased

• Not sure

How does the time spent on importing over the last month compare with normal expectations for this time of year?

• Time spent has increased

• Time spent has stayed the same

• Time spent has decreased

• Not sure

Have you experienced any of the following challenges with importing over the last month?

• Additional paperwork

• Change in transportation costs

• Closure of infrastructure used to import goods or services

• Customs duties or levies

• Destination countries changing their border restrictions

• Disruption at UK borders

• Finding information on how to import

• Lack of hauliers to transport goods or lack of logistics equipment

• Suppliers not continuing to trade

• Suppliers not customs ready

• Time taken for checks at the border

• Other

• Did not experience any challenges with importing over the last month

What was the main cause of these importing challenges?

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic

• End of the EU transition period

• Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the end of the EU transition period

• Other

• Not sure

Which of the following support options would your business benefit from, to help with importing challenges?

• Customs and tariffs

• Finding new alternative supply chains

• Finding new overseas contacts or customers

• Import licences

• Information on importing

• Legal support

• Transport and distribution

• Understanding markets and demand issues

• Other

• None of the above

In the last 12 months, approximately what percentage of your sales of materials, goods and services were to customers in other UK nations?

• More than 75% of sales

• Between 50-75% of sales

• Between 25-49% of sales

• Between 1-24% of sales

• None of our sales were to other UK nations

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Is your business experiencing any challenges when trading with customers in other UK nations?

• Yes

• No

• Not sure

To what extent do you expect your business's UK distribution demands will be met by logistics services in the next two weeks?

• All UK distribution demands will be met

• Some UK distribution demands will be met

• None of the UK distribution demands will be met

• The business will not need any UK distribution

• Not sure

Has your business experienced global supply chain disruption over the last month?

• Yes

• No

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Please give more details about how your business has been affected by global supply chain disruption

Has your business experienced any unexpected changes to financial or operational activities in the last two weeks?

• Yes, there were unexpected changes

• No, there were not any unexpected changes

Please give more details about any unexpected changes to financial or operational activities in the last two weeks

Is your business expecting any financial or operational activities to be affected by the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the next two weeks?

• Yes, expect activities to be affected

• No, do not expect activities to be affected

Please give more details about which financial or operational activities you expect to be affected in the next two weeks

Has your business received any government-backed loans or finance agreements during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic?

• Yes

• No

• Not sure

Has your business received payment from any of the following grants or schemes in the last month?

• Additional Restrictions Grant

• COVID-19 Business Ventilation Fund

• Kickstart Job Scheme for young people

• Recovery Loan Scheme

• Sector-specific grant

• Small business grant

• Super-deduction

• Other

• Not sure

• Not received any of these grants in the last month

Did the support received from any of the initiatives or schemes help your business to continue trading?

• Yes, it helped us to continue trading

• No, it did not impact our ability to continue trading

• Not sure

How long do you think your business's cash reserves will last?

• Business has no cash reserves

• Less than 1 month

• 1 to 3 months

• 4 to 6 months

• More than 6 months

• Not sure

How much confidence does your business have that it will survive the next three months?

• High confidence

• Moderate confidence

• Low confidence

• No confidence

• Not sure

Over the last month, how did your business's debt repayments compare with turnover?

• Repayments were more than 100% of turnover

• Repayments were between 50% and 100% of turnover

• Repayments were between 20% and 50% of turnover

• Repayments were up to 20% of turnover

• Not sure

• Not applicable

How much confidence does your business have that it will meet its current debt obligations?

• High confidence

• Moderate confidence

• Low confidence

• No confidence

• Not sure

• Do not have any debt obligations

What is your business's risk of insolvency?

• Severe risk

• Moderate risk

• Low risk

• No risk

• The business is insolvent

• Not sure

How had your business's risk of insolvency changed in the last two months?

• Risk has increased

• Risk has stayed the same

• Risk has decreased

• Not sure

In the last two weeks, approximately what percentage of your business's workforce were:

• Using a hybrid model of working

• Working from home

• Working from a designated workspace

• On sick leave or not working due to coronavirus (COVID-19) symptoms, self-isolation or quarantine

• Made permanently redundant

• Other

Is your business using, or intending to use, increased homeworking as a permanent business model going forward?

• Yes

• No

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Why is your business using, or intending to use, increased homeworking as a permanent business model going forward?

• Ability to better match jobs to skills

• Ability to recruit from a wider geographical pool in the UK

• Ability to recruit from a wider geographical pool internationally

• Improved staff wellbeing

• Increased productivity

• Reduced carbon emissions

• Reduced overheads

• Reduced sickness absence

• Reduced wage bill

• Other

• Not sure

Why is your business not intending to use increased homeworking as a permanent business model going forward?

• Concerns with integrating new starters into the workplace

• Costs of employee equipment

• Difficulties managing staff remotely

• Negative impact on working culture

• Not suitable for our business

• Reduced communication

• Reduced productivity

• Reduced reliability and retention of staff

• Security concerns

• Other

• Not sure

When do you expect your workforce to return to their normal place of work?

• Within the next month

• Between 1 and 3 months

• Between 4 and 6 months

• More than 6 months

• Workforce already returned to their normal place of work

• Not expecting workforce to return to their normal place of work

• Not sure

• Not applicable

What percentage of your workforce do you expect to return to their normal place of work in the time period you selected?

• Above 75% of the workforce

• Between 50-75% of the workforce

• Between 25-49% of the workforce

• Less than 25% of the workforce

• Not sure

How do existing employees' hourly wages over the last month compare with normal expectations for this time of year?

• Wages are higher

• Wages have not been affected

• Wages are lower

• Not sure

• Not applicable

How do new employees' hourly wages over the last month compare with normal expectations for this time of year?

• Wages are higher

• Wages have not been affected

• Wages are lower

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Which, if any, of the following skills has your business had a high demand for in the last 12 months?

• Advanced digital skills

• Basic digital skills

• Customer service skills

• Management or leadership skills

• Manual skills

• Transferable skills

• Other

• None of the above

Which, if any, of the following skills does your workforce require extra support or training in?

• Advanced digital skills

• Basic digital skills

• Customer service skills

• Management or leadership skills

• Manual skills

• Transferable skills

• Other

• None of the above

Is your business using, or intending to use, any of the following safety measures in the workplace?

• Adjusted working practices

• Carbon dioxide monitors

• Customer coronavirus (COVID-19) checks

• Hygiene measures

• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)

• Social distancing

• Temperature checks

• Other

• Not sure

• None of the above

How has the implantation of these safety measures affected your operating costs?

• Operating costs have substantially increased

• Operating costs have increased a little

• Operating costs have stayed the same

• Operating costs have decreased a little

• Operating costs have substantially decreased

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Has your business experienced a change in the number of cancellations from customers over the last month?

• Cancellations have increased

• Cancellations have stayed the same

• Cancellations have decreased

• Not sure

• Not applicable

Please tell us anything else about your business's current situation relating to topics covered in this survey

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