UK economy ends 2016 on high – but rising import prices starting to bite

British businesses helped by fall in sterling, finds BCC survey, but inflation fears and Brexit uncertainty expected to slow growth this year

The fall in sterling following the Brexit vote helped British business shake off a period of uncertainty to end 2016 on a high note as companies reported increases in export sales and orders. But the quarterly health check by the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) found that business activity in the last three months of the year failed to rebound to historic levels, leaving companies worse off than a year ago.

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