A recent survey carried out by the CBI provides an upbeat tone for British manufacturers, with UK factory orders climbing to a four-month high in December, indicating that UK firms have the potential to grow in 2015 despite the weakened Eurozone.
The survey indicates that British manufacturers had a good end to the year, with domestic demand pushing up order books to a four month high in December. In particular, the survey reported that car production and plastics manufacturing had driven a rise in output over the last three months of 2014.
Of the 485 manufacturers surveyed by the CBI for its December industrial trends survey, 25% said that total order books were above normal. This represents the highest positive balance since August, beating City expectations.
ARain Newton-Smith, Economic Director at the CBI, commented: “The manufacturing sector is ending 2014 on a more upbeat note, having lost a little momentum earlier in the year.” Despite the encouraging figures, he advised British firms to look harder for export opportunities to high-growth sectors across the globe, adding: “The otherwise solid outlook for UK manufacturers is tempered by a challenging global backdrop”.
Paul Hollingsworth, UK economist at Capital Economics said: “Robust growth in domestic demand should ensure that the recovery in manufacturing rebuilds some steam in 2015.”
The survey bears out Redhill Manufacturing’s order books, which continue to reflect growing UK sales. In addition, Redhill appears to be riding out the tough global conditions, with healthy overseas sales and business expansion across the Eurozone, US and further afield.
Committed to an on-going expansion programme, Redhill continues to invest in new products, plant and equipment, ensuring it has the capability to meet customer demand at home and abroad, and maintain its position as one of the UK’s leading suppliers of top quality access, storage and manual handling equipment.
