UK double-dip recession: The industry verdict

Industry commentators forecast an even gloomier second quarter after the Office for National Statistics revealed the UK slid back into recession in Q1, with negative growth of 0.2%.

Paul Mumford, senior investment manager at Cavendish Asset Management "While hardly good news, I very much doubt the slight contraction revealed today heralds a double dip in any real, meaningful sense. Company results have on the whole been reasonable to good, and do not reflect a double-dip scenario. Although there is certainly lingering weakness in certain consumer areas, there are promising signs elsewhere. Whilst complacency must be avoided, so must the tendency to scare easily - for example, commentators were generally fearful of a severe retraction for housebuilders not too long ag...