Shropshire Chamber of Commerce has launched its latest quarterly economic survey to assess the health and confidence of the local business community.

The anonymous survey – which is open to all businesses, whether or not they are members of the Chamber - is collecting information about trading conditions during the second quarter of this year.

It questions employers on a range of key issues including cashflow, sales, skills, recruitment, training, investment, and business confidence.

The survey is carried out by Shropshire Chamber of Commerce on behalf of the British Chambers of Commerce and is part of the largest and most respected survey of its kind in the UK.

The Shropshire results and comments are fed directly into the national database, which is used by central government and the Bank of England to help understand business pressures and needs, and set interest rates.

Ruth Ross, Shropshire Chamber’s chief executive, said: “It’s really important for us that as many businesses as possible take time to fill in this survey.

“It is completely anonymous – so that you can speak freely - and takes only a few minutes. Every single business voice matters. The greater the voice, the greater the influence we can have to support the businesses of Shropshire.

“This is part of the largest and most respected quarterly business intelligence survey in the country, and the BCC asks us to gather business sentiment in Shropshire & Telford, to feed this into the data.

“The results are used by multiple Government departments, as well as the Bank of England, to understand the business climate. Every business voice matters - the louder we shout, the greater the impact we can have.”