There has been a strong growth recorded by manufacturing companies in the UK. This strong growth has come from orders that originate both at home and abroad. The growth has occurred over the first part of 2017, and hopefully the trend will continue.

The last CBI Industrial Trends Survey uncovered the increase in orders. The survey asked a sample of 397 manufacturing companies about their business. The survey found that the orders from domestic origins have risen It has been revealed that the growth has occurred despite the significant increase in costs and prices. The survey showed that the number of orders received by manufacturing companies has increased at the fastest rate since July 2014 over the course of three months to April this year.

The CBI Industrial Trends Survey has also found that the number of exports that have recorded is at its strongest point in the last six years. It is thought that the market has benefitted from a strong increase in competitiveness, especially from markets outside the EU.

The Survey also found that the weak pound has pushed up costs and that manufactures have been experiencing the largest rise in unit costs for six years. It has been found that the growth of output has reached a new three-year high and there are predictions for continued growth over the next quarter. Manufacturers believe that there will be a more moderate growth in new orders in the near future because of an expected slow in the number of domestic demand that will outweigh the growth of exports. However, it is thought that the growth of exports will rise to the strongest position they’ve been in for more than two decades.

Manufacturing companies are upbeat in regards to their year ahead expectations for exports however the research carried out suggests that there will be a softening in investment plans across the sector. In particular, the companies that work with buildings and plant & machinery have been noted as softening their plans for investment. The latter area of manufacturing is at its lowest for more than six years.