British firms' confidence falls, but marketing spend rises

The number of British companies feeling confident about their financial prospects fell to its lowest level since 2013, a survey showed, although the same firms still increased their marketing budgets, reflecting a mixed view of the economy. The IPA Bellwether report said on Thursday that a net balance of 12.2 percent of companies increased their advertising budgets in the second quarter of 2015, the eleventh successive quarter companies have reported growth. A similar trend was also recorded for