Production Engineering Solutions reported on Monday, that although output volumes fell in the three months to February, manufacturers expect marginal increases in the next quarter.

This was taken from the CBI’s latest Industrial Report 2024, which is the only UK manufacturing business survey with a supplementary for Small and medium-sized enterprises. The survey was based on 344 respondents and the headlines from the report are:

• Although output volumes fell in the last quarter to February they are expected to rise during the second quarter of this year.
• Total order books were reporting lower than normal but had improved relative to last month.
• Export orders books again reported below ‘normal’ in February, but were again up on last month and above the long-run average.

Many of the larger business consultancy firms are calling on the Chancellor to help support the digital transformation of the manufacturing sector, provide help to better improve skills, and reduce National Insurance contributions to help combat the increase in the national living wage.

Manufacturers are also now moving over to the new Customer Declaration Service, this should bring the import/export system closer to the EU’s and the Single Trade Window, with the intention of reducing the administrative burden on industry.

If you are struggling to fill current vacancies, get in touch with our industrial desk and find out how we can help.