The tide is turning
A deluge of good news stories indicate an upturn in optimism that looks set to provide a springboard for UK manufacturers in the year ahead. Make UK’s latest ‘Manufacturing – The Facts’ report, for example, revealed that our manufacturing sector has climbed one place to eighth in the world rankings, overtaking a big competitor, France, in the process. Indeed, Make UK’s Q4 2023 Manufacturing Outlook finds that manufacturers are seeing output surge three times faster than orders. The latest balance for output is +20%, up from +3% in Q3 2023. Notably, Q4 was the third quarter in 2023 where output balances were equal to or exceeded +20%, indicating overall industry growth. Our subcontract supply chains are also seeing a significant uptick, evidenced by the latest Contract Manufacturing Index (CMI) from Qimtek. The CMI showed that the UK market for subcontract manufacturing ended 2023 on a strong note, up 105% compared to the previous three months. Overall, the market concluded 7.5% higher than at the end of 2022. Fabrication was the strongest area, up a staggering 160% on the previous quarter and 12% on the previous year. Growth in our machining sector was also significant, up 51% on the previous quarter and 2.4% on 2022. In November we heard that the UK Government is making £4.5bn available for British manufacturing to increase investment in eight sectors across the UK. Funding will be available from 2025 for five years, providing everyone with longer term certainty about investments. With so much positivity, now is the perfect time for manufacturers to invest, with forthcoming exhibitions like Southern Manufacturing (Farnborough, 6-8 February) and MACH (Birmingham NEC, 15-19 April) providing the ideal opportunity to enhance your production capabilities. Machinery & Manufacturing magazine would like to wish you and your businesses a successful and prosperous 2024. Laura Crawford Publisher
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