Caroline Lavelle explained that a business leader considering redundancies might, in fact, be facing a cashflow issue that could be better solved through a lending product.
Headcount expectations recovered for the second month running from -4 to +3, the first positive reading since September 2024.
Stride warned that Reeves was "the architect of her own misfortune," and the reason that business confidence had "crashed through the floor."
However, the index of business leader optimism for the future of their own organisation declined to +38 in April, down from +42 in March, and net revenue expectations declined from +44 to +40.