British Manufacturing Barometer - Economy and Industry

Welcome to the first-ever British Manufacturing Barometer. This report shares UK manufacturing companies’ current views and voices on the Economy and Industry.

While all data and insights come from Made in Britain members, the Barometer is intended to be representative of UK manufacturing as a sector. The Barometer is separate to, but coordinated with Made in Britain’s Buying British and Exports Surveys. Reference to each of those is in this report, including that 8 in 10 UK companies now recognise the Made in Britain Trademark, and Europe continues to be the most popular export market for UK manufacturers. 

Some of the top lines from the Barometer found that over half of the manufacturing companies surveyed are optimistic the economy will improve over the coming year, with a small minority (3%) strongly disagreeing with that sentiment. 

Almost half of those surveyed agree that the UK manufacturing sector will become stronger in the coming year, however the cost of materials is the biggest factor affecting manufacturers’ outlook for the sector over the next year, and inflation and fiscal challenges weigh heavily on their outlook for the economy. 

As for exporting, exports represent over 20% of turnover for nearly one in four of the companies surveyed, and the Barometer has identified clusters of ‘export-driven’ UK manufacturers in the North-West and around Birmingham and London. 

Supporting jobs, environmental considerations and reducing political risk are the biggest factors in ‘Buying British’ preferences amongst the UK manufacturing companies surveyed by Made in Britain.

Download the full report - British Manufacturing Barometer: Economy and Industry.

Whether you are a manufacturer, politician, policy-maker, journalist, academic or sector stakeholder - if you are reading the report and want to know more, or may be interested in working with Made in Britain on future versions, please do get in touch with us via info@madeinbritain.org.


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