British manufacturing struggling to enter a sustainable recovery
10/03/10 | 11:43
Commenting on the manufacturing output figures for January 2010, David Kern, Chief Economist at the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC), said:
“The new figures were worse than expected, even after making allowances for the adverse effect of January’s bad weather. There is now a serious possibility that GDP in the first quarter of this year will show a slowdown compared with the last quarter of 2009.
“A manufacturing recovery is crucial in order to secure the much-needed rebalancing of the UK economy towards exports and investment. The competitive sterling exchange rate provides manufacturing with the necessary advantage to stage a meaningful recovery.
“The sector must be better supported, access to finance improved, and steps taken that help firms to preserve their skills base – starting with the cancellation of the increase in NICs, planned for 2011. We expect the government to address these issues in the Budget.”
Ends
Media Contact:
Sam Turvey
Tel: 020 7654 5813
Email: s.turvey@britishchambers.org.uk
Notes to Editors:
The manufacturing output figures for January can be viewed here:
http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/iop0310.pdf
Visit our online petition against the rise of employer NICs by clicking on the following link:
http://www.no-nics-rise.co.uk/
BCC will be releasing its Budget submission on March 18th, the same day as our annual conference. To find out more about the conference – Preparing for Change – visit:
http://www.bcc-preparingforchange.co.uk/
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) is the National Voice of Local Business.
The BCC sits at the heart of a powerful nationwide network of Accredited Chambers of Commerce serving business across the UK, which employ over five million people