Manufacturers across the South East are continuing to power on, reporting positives across every key indicator of business health, according to the latest quarterly Manufacturing Outlook survey by EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, and accountancy and business advisory firm, BDO LLP.
The data, published today, reveals that business confidence in regional manufacturers has firmly taken root, with this quarter’s findings showing that manufacturers’ strong start to the year was sustained in the second quarter.
Manufacturing output and orders remained high in Q2 with positive balances of +40% and +27% respectively. Looking forward, the outlook is promising with even stronger output (42%) and order (33%) balances forecasted for Q3 across London and South East.
This optimism is resulting in strong demand for skilled people with recruitment intentions looking to soar to a balance of 42% (from 13%) in the next three months.
The one area of caution is in exports where weak demand in key markets and the appreciation of sterling is adding to uncertainty, resulting in only a small number of South East manufacturers being confident of achieving export growth in the third quarter of the year.
The strong results for the region mirror the national picture and EEF is now forecasting 3.6% manufacturing growth, a substantial upgrade from the 2.7% forecast at the beginning of the year.
Jim Davison, South East Region Director at EEF, says: “There is a palpable sense of mounting confidence amongst manufacturers and this set of results tells us that it is fully justified. The continuing trend for strong positives is a further boost for businesses emerging from the shadow of the recession and a further boost to the local economy and the job market. Manufacturers in this region will also have an important role to play in helping to sustain broad based growth across the UK.”
Kevin Cook, partner at BDO LLP in the South East, says: “Government manufacturing policy is clearly paying dividends and is creating an environment in which South East manufacturers are comfortable enough to commit to future investment, both in terms of employment and capital. This is a very positive indicator for the rest of the year. What is now needed is for this success to be replicated abroad. We would encourage the Government to introduce more supportive measures for exports, especially given the tentative nature of economic recovery in Europe.”
