MORE than half of small and medium firms in Yorkshire are confident about business prospects for the New Year, a new poll shows.

The survey of 1,000 UK SMEs, commissioned by alternative finance provider Liberis, showed that 59 per cent of regional firms were confident about the 2015 outlook.

Forty five per cent expect their business to grow, 34 per cent expect it will stay the same,with 21 per cent expecting their business to decline.

Twenty two per cent said they would be seeking business funding in 2015, with 49 per cent of those planning to approach their bank, while 22 per cent will use savings and 18 per cent will use alternative finance providers.

Funding will be used mainly to help grow business and buy new equipment.

Meanwhile, John Longworth, British Chambers of Commerce director-general, who visited Bradford recently, has expressed fears that a tightly-contested General Election campaign will put “tawdry” point scoring above the needs of the economy.

In an open letter to David Cameron, Ed Miliband and other party leaders, he has urged them to show a “relentless focus on policies that deliver prosperity”.

Mr Longworth, who in November urged Bradford businesses to press vote-hungry politicians for delivery of more support for the region, said it was the state of UK politics rather than global market turbulence that was causing the most worry among BCC members.

He wrote: “For many businesses, both small and large, one of the greatest sources of challenge and uncertainty in 2015 isn’t the state of global markets, but home-grown UK politics.

“The General Election that you are now preparing to fight isn’t just the most wide open contest in decades. It is generating huge nervousness among British businesses, as politicians race between TV studios and events to undercut their rivals’ policy pronouncements, to proclaim themselves most in touch with the needs of the people, or to jump on the latest media bandwagon.

“As leaders of the UK’s largest political parties, we call on you to act responsibly in the forthcoming campaign, putting the UK’s long-term success over tawdry political tactics and point-scoring.”

Mr Longworth said the priorities for business included “public spending based on prudence and long-term stability, not short-term giveaways and gimmicks”, a “radical re-think” on corporate taxation and efforts to bridge a “yawning gulf between the world of education and the world of work”.

Speaking at the Bradford Chamber of Commerce annual dinner in November, Mr Longworth said the current interest in ‘all things northern’ being shown by London centric ministers and other senior politicians provided business groups with the leverage to win commitments on infrastructure and other improvements to boost the local and regional economy.