Sussex is still playing catch up with the rest of the South-East in terms of productivity.

Difficulties in recruiting trained staff, especially sales people, mean the county's gross domestic product is below the regional average.

According to Nik Askaroff, chairman of Sussex Enterprise, training schemes for younger workers have to be introduced to stop the gap widening.

Mr Askaroff was speaking at the launch of this quarter's Business Confidence Monitor (BCM) at West Hove Golf Club.

The BCM is a survey of thousands of businesses which tries to gauge confidence about the economic outlook. It is carried out by the Institute of Chartered Accountants and Alliance & Leicester.

The latest survey found business leaders in the South-East among the most confident in the UK, with finance professionals in the region expecting profits to swell by six per cent in the next year.

Mr Askaroff, managing director of the Eastbourne-based Cibus Group, said Sussex businesses were "near the crest of a wave" but should not be complacent. Businesses had to keep on lobbying for more flexible planning policies and improvements to the transport infrastructure because "margins are under attack".

Friday June 04, 2004