UK business confidence is running at a 20-year high, according to a survey by Lloyds Banking Group.
Orders, sales, and profits are all forecast to rise, the twice-yearly survey of 1,500 businesses said.
The survey by Lloyds found that confidence had increased across all UK regions and sectors. Other surveys from the EEF employers' group and business services company Deloitte have suggested that exports and investment will increase in 2014.
'Bullish' mood
The Lloyds' survey tracks business confidence about sales, orders and profits, weighing positive and negative views to create a "balance of opinion". The latest positive balance of 45% is up from 30% last July.
Confidence increased across the whole of the UK, with companies in north England and the West Midlands forecasting strong growth.
Tim Hinton, a managing director at Lloyds, said: "Businesses are exporting more, in particular to the Asia-Pacific region, but they now also feel more bullish about exporting to Europe since its exit from recession."
Confidence about the UK economy also improved, with 31% of businesses worried about domestic markets, down from 45% last July.
The improving picture was underlined in two other surveys. The EEF reported that two-fifths of manufacturing companies planned to raise investment over the coming months. Terry Scuoler, EEF chief executive, said: "Manufacturers are telling us they expect to make a greater contribution to growth, investment and jobs this year."
However, companies reported that rising energy costs remained a worry, he said.
Meanwhile, a survey of UK finance directors has said that their appetite for risk has returned, with easier access to bank lending likely to mean their companies will expand and hire more staff in 2014.
The survey of 122 chief financial officers from business services group Deloitte found that bank borrowing was now the most attractive source of funding, the first time they have said that since the financial crisis began.
The improvement in confidence across UK business comes as Chancellor George Osborne is expected to say in a speech that 2014 will be "the year of hard truths" with more "painful cuts" needed to put the economy on a sustainable footing.
