This reinforces the role of business investment and exports as underpinning the recovering economy. Looking ahead, the oil price presents a clear negative for the consumer and we're likely to see only a moderate pace of growth being sustained.

Business investment is disappointingly sluggish and the long-term effects on the U.K. economy are really worrying our corporate members. The general view is that the U.K. is still a good place to do business, but it is not as good as it was five years ago and it won't be as good in five years time if policy continues as it is.

The issue in the oil business today is not the reserves but the money, the investment decisions, the investment climate.

This highlights a re-accelerating economy led by consumption and investment.

The immediate driver is that investment activity is picking up. The global economy remains very robust, and after a long and dreadful period, there are hopes that German consumption will strengthen.

In the big oil shocks that really damaged the economy, the tax on the consumer was many times more than that, but that alone wasn't enough. You also had to have people worrying that prices were going higher forever.