Companies in the region reported higher confidence in their own business prospects month-on-month, up 12 points at 62%. When taken alongside their optimism in the economy, up 16 points to 23%, this gives a headline confidence reading of 42% (vs. 29% in March).
A net balance of 30% of businesses in the East also expect to increase staff levels over the next year, up seven points on last month.
Looking ahead to the next six months, businesses in the region identified their top target areas for growth as evolving their offering, for example by introducing new products or services, (40%), entering new markets (38%) and investing in their team, for instance through training (38%).
The Business Barometer, which surveys 1,200 businesses monthly and which has been running since 2002, provides early signals about UK economic trends both regionally and nationwide.
Overall, UK business confidence fell ten points in April to 39%.
Firms' optimism in their own trading prospects dropped seven points to 50%, while their confidence in the wider economy fell 13 points to 28%.
The North East was the most confident UK nation or region in April (59%), followed by the West Midlands (53%) and the North West (52%).
Confidence fell across the four broad sectors. Manufacturing confidence remained broadly unchanged from last month, falling by one point to 38%, while the construction sector saw the largest decrease in business confidence this month, declining 22 points to 26%. Retail confidence also fell by 13 points down to 45% and the service industry fell seven points to 40%, both now at three-month lows.
Kirsty Sadler, regional director for the East of England at Lloyds, said: “The East is bucking the national trend this month with a rise in business confidence – a reflection of the ambition and resilience of the region’s firms.
“Local companies will be looking to build on this outlook and press ahead with their plans for growth. As always, we’ll be there to offer our on-the-ground support to help them make the most of every opportunity ahead.”
Hann-Ju Ho, Senior Economist, Lloyds Commercial Banking, said: “With the announcement of global tariffs from the United States on 2nd April and the market volatility that followed, it is unsurprising that business confidence saw an impact this month.
“However, economic optimism remains higher than at the beginning of the year, showing businesses’ resilience in the face of recent challenges and overall confidence is still well above the long-term average of 29%, an average taken from over 20 years of analysis."