July 2011
MANUFACTURING &LOGISTICS
IT Making headway
In recent times, economic slowdown has of course had a major effect on many people’s domestic and professional lives across the globe. Available credit for consumer spending or business investment has been harder to come by, and many household incomes have been reduced; resulting in less disposable wealth. All this in turn has resulted in many businesses’ profits being hit due to less consumer spending or reduced business-to-business trade demand. However, although it has been, and continues to be, a bumpy ride on the way to more palpable recovery in many business sectors, the UK’s manufacturing estate does seem to be attracting healthy order books. Indeed, many manufacturers expect further output growth in the coming quarter, albeit at a slightly slower pace than over the past few months.
According to recent statistics from the CBI, manufacturing demand remained strong in June. Of the 457 manufacturers responding to the CBI’s monthly Industrial Trends Survey, 27 per cent described total orders as above normal, while 26 per cent said they were below normal. The resulting balance of +1 per cent is well above the long-term average (-18 per cent), and is a slight improvement on the previous month’s balance of -2 per cent. Export orders books also picked up slightly in June, with 27 per cent of firms saying they were above normal, and 27 per cent below normal. And manufacturing firms still expect solid growth in output in the coming quarter. And while an impressive figure of 28 per cent predict output will rise in the coming three months, only 14 per cent predict it will fall.
Ed Holden Editor
Other positive news comes in the form of research from GE Capital. GE Capital’s SME Capex Barometer survey reveals that an impressive 92 per cent of businesses surveyed said they planned to invest in their business, spending an average of £73,805 on items including manufacturing equipment, commercial vehicles, company cars, IT, and office equipment. Nearly all (96 per cent) medium-sized businesses (50-249 employees) and small businesses (10-49 employees) were planning to invest, although micro businesses (2-9 employees) were more cautious with 81 per cent looking to invest over the next year. So, with encouraging order book stats and a keenness on the part of many businesses to invest in new equipment, including IT systems, I’m delighted to report that UK plc certainly has much to be optimistic about at this mid-point of 2011.
July 2011
MANUFACTURING &LOGISTICS
IT
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