THE state of the economy is now the biggest concern for the region's small businesses.
The latest NatWest quarterly survey of small businesses in Britain found that 26 per cent of North-East firms regarded economic uncertainty as their most important problem, compared with only 13 per cent nine months ago.
Although red tape has fallen from the top spot as the key concern for small businesses, few of those surveyed felt that the burden of red tape had decreased.
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