As retail sales continue to stagnate, the manufacturing industry is at its strongest for nearly two decades, according to new statistics released by the CBI.
The Industrial Trends Survey from the CBI shows that order books and the increase in growth in the last quarter are at their strongest since 1995. The CBI says that this shows the recovery of the manufacturing industry is “accelerating”.
350 manufacturers took part in the CBI survey, which also revealed good news for exports with export order books looking strong and orders being above average.
In more good news, manufacturing output growth showed a steady increase in the last three months, according to the CBI. The only sector of the manufacturing industry to still be struggling is the electrical engineering sector. But otherwise the survey shows positive news for UK manufactures both large and small.
Manufacturers say that they expect to continue to witness strong growth throughout the rest of 2013 and into 2014 – perhaps a sign that the recovery really is gathering strength.
Commenting on the findings, Stephen Gifford, CBI Director of Economics, said that the results were encouraging and that “Manufacturers finally seem to be feeling the benefit of growing confidence and spending within the UK and globally.”
Gifford went on to add a word of caution by explaining that UK exports were still vulnerable and that businesses needed support from government to enable them to enter the high-export growth markets.
In yet more good news for the UK manufacturing industry, another study recently released by the CBI showed that UK manufacturers were becoming increasingly optimistic due the steady growth the sector has experienced.
In the survey, 32% of manufacturing businesses interviewed said that they were now more optimistic than they were in the last quarter. 30% of UK businesses had experienced an increase in orders; domestic orders had also seen a surge and were at their highest since 201. Unlike some other sectors, the manufacturing industry had also managed to escape the pressure from ever-rising inflation.
The findings from the CBI are good news for the UK. A strong manufacturing industry is vital to any economy and these latest surveys show that the UK has a lot to be positive about. The manufacturing sector expects the positive trend to continue as the economy continues its fight back from an on-going recession and tough economic times.