Business activity in the South West fell during November amid the second national lockdown. The NatWest South West Business Activity Index – a seasonally adjusted index that measures the month-on-month change in the combined output of the region’s manufacturing and service sectors – fell from 49.7 in October to 47.1 in November, to signal a second successive monthly decline in business activity. Companies linked lower business activity to the renewed lockdown measures and a subsequent drop in client demand. Firms cut their staff numbers sharply amid further signs of excess capacity and a stronger rise in costs. However, optimism towards the year ahead picked up to a record high amid hopes of a timely end to the pandemic.