Small factories suffer from fall in demand from Eurozone buyers
Britain’s manufacturers are being propped up by strong domestic demand, as orders from the troubled Eurozone drop sharply, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said today.
The proportion of small- and mid-sized firms reporting rising output outweighed those reporting a fall by a margin of nine per cent – down from 15 per cent three months ago.
The main problem is exports falling. A net balance of nine per cent reported a decline in export orders, compared with a balance of 14 per cent reporting rising domestic orders.
“Sales in the strengthening UK market are looking good but firms are finding export orders much harder to secure,” said the CBI director of economics Rain Newton-Smith. “International political instability and weak growth in the Eurozone is holding back overseas demand. But firms expect overall orders to expand at a healthier pace over the next quarter.”