Research conducted by ICAS and law firm DLA Piper polled over 100 finance directors (FDs) and CFOs. The results show just over half (58%) expect modest growth (1%-2.5%) over the next 12 months.

This is significantly down on the previous year’s results, when over half (58%) of FDs anticipated either strong or modest growth. In addition, those expecting either flat or negligible growth have more than trebled from one in 10 (11%) in 2014 to more than a third (37%) in this year’s survey.

Barriers to growth included the depressed oil price, weak confidence among consumers and in the business sector, red tape and regulation, the slowdown in China and uncertainty over the UK’s future in the EU.

More than one in four (28%) of those polled anticipate redundancies in their organisation during the remainder of 2015, compared to just 19% when asked this time last year, but there were also growing concerns around staff recruitment and retention.

ICAS CEO Anton Colella said: ‘The new number one at the top of Britain's risk registers is the difficulty of recruiting the right staff with the right skills to grow our economy. The skills gap is not just a problem in construction, manufacturing and technology but a red flag across almost every sector in the UK.’

In the US, the American Institute of CPAs (AICPA) has published its economic outlook survey for the third quarter of 2015. This found that optimism among CEOs, CFOs and financial controllers about the US economy going forward has fallen for the second quarter in a row and now stands below 50% for the first time since early 2014.

Some 48% of respondents expressed optimism about the US economy over the next 12 months, down from 52% the previous quarter and well below the first quarter mark of 68%. The impact of a global economic slowdown and domestic regulatory concerns were among the top reasons cited for the slide.

In common with their UK counterparts, US finance executives identified availability of skilled staff as a top three challenge for businesses, the first time this has been noted since the fourth quarter of 2014.

However, there has been a drop in the number looking to hire immediately, down from 21% last quarter to 18% currently. There has also been a significant shift in companies that need more employees but are hesitant to hire – one in five of those polled say their organisations now fall in this category, up 6% from last quarter.

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