According to a survey by Lloyds, business confidence has increased across all UK regions and sectors. The survey, which tracks business confidence for sales, orders and profits, revealed an increase in the latest positive balance which was at 30% last July and has risen to 45%, showing an increase across the whole of the UK.
Tim Hinton, a managing director at Lloyds, said: "Businesses are exporting more, in particular to the Asia-Pacific region but they now also feel more bullish about exporting to Europe since its exit from recession."
Confidence about the UK economy also improved, with only 31% of businesses reported to be worried about domestic markets, down from 45% last July.
The improvement comes as Chancellor George Osborne is expected to mention in a speech later today that 2014 will be "the year of hard truths" with more "painful cuts" needed to put the economy back on the right track.
