A NORTH Yorkshire small business leader says his members are maximising their opportunities as confidence rises in the region, but warned policy makers to be ready to act if trading conditions deteriorate.

The Federation of Small Businesses (FSB) said ventures across Yorkshire were feeling positive as they greeted 2017 despite a rise in operating costs, according to the organisation’s latest quarterly Small Business Index (SBI).

The SBI, which reflects how firms expect to perform over the coming quarter, hit plus-22 across the region in the last quarter of 2016, up from plus-12 in the preceding three months, meaning more businesses feel confident than feel anxious.

About three-quarters of small firms in Yorkshire expect profits to be stable or increase in the first quarter of 2017, and with the fall in the pound’s value more than a third of exporters surveyed expect to increase overseas sales.

But there are challenges for small enterprises in the region. General economic conditions in the UK are cited as the biggest barrier to growth (34 per cent), with one in five firms highlighting consumer demand as a threat to their growth aspirations.

The FSB’s North Yorkshire chairman, Simon Williams, said: “Our members tell us they are maximising their opportunities in this current positive economic climate.

“But with costs rising, they will need support for their confidence to translate into new economic growth and jobs.

“As policy makers prepare for Brexit negotiations and look to small firms to contribute to the UK’s economic success, we would urge them to be ready to act if trading conditions deteriorate.

“We also call on the Chancellor to make March 8 a full-throated pro-business Budget, and believe an increase in the Employment Allowance, to help small firms boost job creation, would be a good place to start.”