Pulse Survey now running Five years on, we're measuring the lasting impact of COVID-19 on our lives in our latest short Pulse Survey. CSO Pulse Surveys are anonymous and open to all. #CSOTakePart
| Turnover increased | Decreased between 0% and 10% | Decreased between 10% and 50% | Decreased more than 50% | |
| Industry (B-E) | 27.9 | 13.5 | 36.9 | 21.6 |
| Construction (F) | 24 | 12 | 40 | 24 |
| Services (G to N,R,S) | 27 | 10 | 38 | 25 |
More than 70% of responding enterprises in all broad sectors reported a decrease in turnover in 2020 compared to 2019
About three quarters of responding enterprises across Industry, Construction and Services saw their turnover fall between 2019 and 2020.
About a quarter of respondents saw turnover fall by more than half in the year and about 40% saw their turnover decrease by between 10% and 50%.
One in ten respondents in the Services sector saw their turnover decrease by between 0% and 10%. This was also the case for one in eight respondents in the Construction sector and one in seven in the Industrial sector. See Figure 4.1 and Table 4.1
| Don't know | Not confident | Yes longer than 6 months | |
| Industry (B-E) | 19.1 | 20.6 | 60.3 |
| Construction (F) | 24.8 | 36.1 | 39.1 |
| Wholesale and Retail Trade (G) | 11.6 | 31.1 | 57.4 |
| Transportation and Storage (H) | 27.1 | 41.9 | 31 |
| Accommodation and Food Service Activities (I) | 11.8 | 45.2 | 43 |
| Professional and IT (J, M) | 11.7 | 27.4 | 60.9 |
| Finance and Administration (K, L, N) | 15.7 | 22.5 | 61.8 |
| Arts, Entertainment and Recreation (R) | 19.6 | 45.7 | 34.8 |
| Other Service Activities (S) | 23.8 | 36.2 | 40 |
| All sectors | 17 | 31 | 52 |
More than 50% of responding enterprises expressed confidence in having the financial resources to continue throughout the crisis for more than 6 months
Six out of ten respondents in the Finance and Administration (62%), Professional and IT (61%), Industrial (60%) and Wholesale and Retail (57%) sectors expressed confidence in having the financial resources to continue operating throughout the crisis for more than six months.
Over a third (35%) of enterprises in the Arts, Entertainment and Recreation sector expressed confidence in having the financial resources to continue operating throughout the crisis for more than six months, while 46% reported not being confident in having enough financial resources to continue operating.
More than four in ten respondents in the Accommodation and Food Service Activities (45%) and Transportation and Storage (42%) sectors reported not being confident in having the financial resources to continue operating throughout the crisis for more than six months. See Figure 4.2 and Table 4.2.
| X-axis label | As expected | Less than expected | More than expected |
|---|---|---|---|
| Industry (B-E) | 30 | 65.4 | 4.6 |
| Construction (F) | 18.9 | 74.1 | 7 |
| Wholesale and Retail Trade (G) | 22.3 | 63 | 14.8 |
| Transportation and Storage (H) | 9.3 | 83.7 | 7 |
| Accommodation and Food Service Activities (I) | 9.7 | 82.8 | 7.5 |
| Professional and IT (J, M) | 36.9 | 55.1 | 7.9 |
| Finance and Administration (K, L, N) | 31.4 | 63.9 | 4.7 |
| Arts, Entertainment and Recreation (R) | 19.1 | 76.6 | 4.3 |
| Other Service Activities (S) | 16.2 | 77.1 | 6.7 |
More than 80% of responding enterprises in the Accommodation and Food Service Activites sector reported that their 2020 turnover was less than expected
More than 80% of responding enterprises in the Accommodation and Food Service Activities and the Transportation and Storage sectors reported that their 2020 turnover was less than expected. This was also true for more than 70% of respondents in the following sectors: Construction, Other Service Activities and Arts, Entertainment and Recreation.
In the Professional and IT sectors, 55% of respondents reported that their 2020 turnover was less than expected, and 45% reported it was either as expected or more than expected.
In the Wholesale and Retail Trade sector, 15% of respondents reported that their 2020 turnover exceeded expectations. See Figure 4.3 and Table 4.3.
| Decreased between 0% and 25% | Decreased more than 25% | Increased | No change | |
| Industry (B-E) | 32 | 25 | 30 | 13 |
| Construction (F) | 32 | 32 | 20 | 16 |
| Services (G to N,R,S) | 27 | 32 | 25 | 16 |
| All sectors | 28 | 31 | 25 | 16 |
Six in ten respondents reported decreased costs in 2020 compared to 2019
About six in ten respondents in the Construction (64%), Services (59%) and Industrial (57%) sectors reported decreased costs (fixed costs and variable costs combined) in 2020 compared to 2019. In the Construction and Services sectors, about one in three respondents reported a decrease of less than 25% with the same amount reporting a decrease of greater than 25%.
Three in ten respondents in the Industrial sector reported increased costs. with the remainder reporting no change. A quarter (25%) of respondents in the Services sector and one in five (20%) respondents in the Construction sector also reported increased costs. See Figure 4.4 and Table 4.4.
| Spend to comply with COVID-19 trading requirements | Spend on new products/processes to adapt to COVID-19 | |
| Industry (B-E) | 85 | 15 |
| Construction (F) | 52.9 | 47.1 |
| Services (G to N,R,S) | 70.4 | 29.6 |
| All sectors | 69 | 31 |
Respondents spent almost 70% of their 2020 COVID-19 spend on measures to comply with requirements for trading
Industry sector respondents reported that 85% of their COVID-19 related spending was on measures to comply with requirements for trading and the remainder was on the development of new products / processes to adapt to COVID-19.
In the Services sector, respondents reported that 70% of their COVID-19 related capital spending was on measures to comply with requirements for trading and the remainder was on the development of new products / processes to adapt to COVID-19. See Figure 4.5 and Table 4.5.
| For long labels below use to display on multiple lines | Pay down overdrafts | Pay on-going costs in absence of expected cashflow | Other |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 15 | 8 |
The most common usage of any additional finance drawn down was to pay on-going costs
The most common usage of any additional finance drawn down was to pay on-going costs in the absence of expected cash flow, with 15% of firms reporting that they used additional finance this way. See figure 4.6 and Table 4.6.
| Require less credit | No significant impact | Require more credit and expect it to be available | Require more credit and expect it will not be available | Don't know | |
| Industry (B-E) | 1 | 57 | 6 | 5 | 32 |
| Construction (F) | 1 | 50 | 8 | 11 | 31 |
| Wholesale and Retail Trade (G) | 2 | 56 | 10 | 6 | 26 |
| Transportation and Storage (H) | 2 | 39 | 8 | 11 | 40 |
| Accommodation and Food Service Activities (I) | 0 | 48 | 15 | 17 | 20 |
| Professional and IT (J, M) | 2 | 69 | 6 | 4 | 20 |
| Finance and Administration (K, L, N) | 0 | 61 | 5 | 7 | 27 |
| Arts, Entertainment and Recreation (R) | 0 | 35 | 11 | 17 | 37 |
| Other Service Activities (S) | 4 | 40 | 9 | 9 | 39 |
More than 80% of respondents across all sectors either saw no impact on the availability of credit or did not know if there was an impact
Almost 70% of respondents in the Professional and IT and 61% in the Finance and Administration sectors reported no impact on the availability of credit, whereas this number dropped to 57% in the Industrial sector and 56% in the Wholesale and Retail Trade sector.
This compares to about half of respondents in the Construction (50%) and Accommodation and Food Service Activities (48%) sectors and four in ten respondents in Other Service Activities (40%) and Transportation and Storage (39%) sectors reporting no impact on the availability of credit.
More than one in five respondents in all sectors reported that they did not know what impact the crisis has had on the availability of credit. See Figure 4.7 and Table 4.7.
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