The BPF's latest Business Conditions survey found that 72% of respondents expected to see an increase in UK turnover in the coming year, versus a 73% figure recorded in January.

 

The percentage of companies expecting profits to rise in the next 12 months dipped from 49% in January’s survey to 46%.

 

Philip Law, the BPF’s director-general, said the overall message was that the level of business confidence remained high "but has reached a plateau, at least momentarily".

 

Exporters believed their prospects had also levelled out, with 56% expecting sales to remain the same in the coming 12 months, versus 50% in January.

 

The survey reinforced what appeared to be a perennial problem for the sector, namely the recruitment of suitably skilled staff.

 

Nearly half (49%) of companies expected their employee levels to stay static, and of those looking to recruit a similar figure, 48%, admitted they were "having difficulties" in finding the right candidate.

 

Technical managers were particularly hard to source, the BPF said, followed by sales people. A quarter of firms said apprentices were hard to recruit.

 

The survey said the number of companies having problems finding the right calibre of personnel was "worrying and is a clear sign of the growing skills shortage", with the percentage of such responses rising steadily in recent years.

 

More positively, the BPF found that investment intentions were growing, with 42% of respondents planning what they described as "significant investments", up from 36% in January 2014 and 31% in January last year.

 

And getting access to funding appeared to be a minor issue for companies, with 93% experiencing no problems in obtaining a loan and only 1% saying they had been refused a facility.

 

Meanwhile the prospect of an independent Scotland on the horizon failed to faze firms, with nearly half (48%) believing it would have no effect on their business, 22% saying it would be a negative move for them and only 4% arguing it would positively benefit their operation.

 

The BPF found the most optimistic operators in the industry to be injection moulders, windows, packaging and pipes companies.