The majority of Scottish businesses expect 2023 to be more successful than 2022, despite challenging economic forecasts.
Almost two thirds of the country’s firms (63%) said they are confident they would have greater success in the coming 12 months, compared to the past year.
A fifth were not confident about being more successful in 2023, while 14% expected their business to perform at the same level in the next year.
The research was carried out between 1 and 14 December as part of additional polling for the monthly Lloyds Bank Business Barometer among 1,200 UK companies - including 100 businesses in Scotland - from all industry sectors and a range of companies with annual turnover above £250,000.
Firms in Scotland projected a more upbeat outlook for 2023, with more than half (58%) expecting a higher turnover than in 2022.
A quarter of businesses expect turnover to increase by between 5% and 19%, while 18% anticipate turnover to increase by more than 20%.
When businesses were asked what they would do to fuel growth, 91% said they were planning an investment drive.
Businesses reported that funding would be used to generally grow their business (43%), invest in energy efficiency measures (42%), develop their company (41%) and increase wages for employees (29%).
Alongside investment, Scottish businesses plan on making several New Year’s resolutions.
These include retaining current staff (42%), improving productivity (39%) and up-skilling existing staff (35%). A further 14% said they are set to invest in paying bonuses and short-term incentives and 26% are intending to target growth from their existing customer base.
Chris Lawrie, area director for Scotland at Bank of Scotland, said: “It’s certainly been another year of constant challenges for Scottish firms, but that so many are preparing for greater success and further growth as we approach 2023 is yet another sign of their unwavering resilience.
“As well as growth, businesses must also ready themselves for further challenges ahead, including by effectively managing cashflow and reviewing overheads and expenditure to check whether any changes or cuts can be made.”
