“It is, of course, welcome news that the promised reverse in inflation is finally beginning to stick. That being said, the rate remains at more than triple the government’s target, so we’re nothing like out of the woods yet.
“Although inflation is slowly falling, our latest research shows that business confidence is down and revenues have not been increasing at a sufficient rate to absorb cost rises.
“If, as we hope, we’re entering a period of recovery, decision makers at all levels must do whatever they can to ensure that smaller traders are able to take full advantage. From meaningful action on lowering energy bills to tackling late payments, there must be a concerted drive to make the trading environment for small businesses as benign as possible so they can get on with what they do best – trading us back to growth.”