Business confidence in the north west rose in the last six months, according to a new study.

The latest Business in Britain report from Lloyds Bank, based on data gathered after the snap election had been called, showed a confidence index score of 26 per cent.

This was up from January’s score of 15 per cent and 14 per cent following last year's Brexit vote.

This report gathers the views of more than 1,500 UK companies, predominantly SMEs, and tracks the overall “balance” of opinion on a range issues, weighing up the percentage of firms that are positive in outlook against those that are negative.

The north west is feeling more optimistic than neighbours Yorkshire and the East Midlands but fell behind Wales in terms of confidence.

Martyn Kendrick, regional director for Lloyds Bank commercial banking, said: “Confidence has risen significantly over the past 12 months, when it fell to just 14 per cent following the EU referendum vote.

“The fact that this has happened despite the political uncertainty from a snap election is a positive sign for underlying confidence in the region.”