December’s extreme weather blew cold air all over Scotland’s economic recovery according to the latest PMI report from the Bank of Scotland. The headline Bank of Scotland PMI – a seasonally adjusted index monitoring activity across Scotland’s manufacturing and service industries – signalled a contraction of Scotland’s private sector economy in the final month of 2010, falling almost ten points to 39.6 from 49.5 in November. Quarterly averaged PMI data showed that output performance in Q4 was the weakest since Q1 2009. The severe weather dampened domestic demand in both manufacturing and especially services. Foreign demand, in comparison, remained solid as manufacturers reported continued growth of ne

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A new survey released today by the Institute of Directors (IoD) indicates that businesses are still having difficulty accessing finance from their banks despite a fall in decline rates. According to the survey:

• 1 in 3 firms that applied for finance in the time period 1 January 2010 – June 2010 were declined by their bank.

• There is evidence that lending criteria have become more restrictive with regard to the amount of security requested by banks.

Commenting on the survey results, Miles Templeman, Director-General of the Institute of Directors, said: “Although there is clear evidence of a drop in decline rates we’re still concerned that a

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