The quarterly Deloitte CFO Survey has been gauging sentiment and balance-sheet strategies among the UK’s largest businesses since 2007.

Key findings
 

• Corporate risk appetite among UK CFOs has seen its biggest rise in more than four years, following the general election
• CFO perceptions of external uncertainty have fallen to the lowest level in more than eight years
• Business confidence among finance leaders has risen for the fourth consecutive quarter
• CFOs’ expectations for corporate revenue growth have risen to their highest level in two-and-a-half years
• Finance chiefs suggest that the new government should prioritise industrial policy and planning reform to boost UK growth and productivity

"Finance leaders have entered the second half of the year in a confident mood. This is not solely a sentiment story, as expectations for revenue growth have also risen sharply. 

Perceptions of uncertainty have fallen in the wake of the election and against a background of low inflation and a recovering economy. With corporate risk appetite on the rise, business is gearing up for growth."

Ian Stewart, Chief Economist at Deloitte
 

“We’ve seen a significant shift in risk appetite post the general election and the new government’s focus on growth and stability is already starting to feed through to corporate confidence. 

Business leaders want industrial strategy to be top of the new government’s economic priorities, and there’s a clear desire to work in partnership to unlock growth and drive productivity. That will be key to delivering a more inclusive and sustainable future for the UK.”

Richard Houston, Chief Executive

Download the report
 

Download this quarter’s report here.

Explore the data
 

Download the PDF to access all the historical data series from the Deloitte CFO Survey. Data from the CFO Survey is also hosted on Thomson Reuters Datastream, Bloomberg, Factset and Macrobond. Please feel free to use any of the data series in your documents or presentations.

Email Tom Simmons to receive a copy of our spreadsheet containing our CFO Survey data.