Budget Day survey: Greater Birmingham manufacturers bucking national trend

ON the day that George Osborne sets out the Government’s spending plans, manufacturers in Greater Birmingham have showed they are bucking the national trend by continuing to sustain strong growth..

The Greater Birmingham Chamber of Commerce said 40% of manufacturers in its area had reported increased domestic sales in the second quarter, up from 33% in Q1.

The figures are in sharp contrast to those produced by the British Chambers of Commerce for Q2. Here only 20% of firms reported increased domestic sales.
 
Exports were also higher, with 35% of Birmingham manufacturing firms reporting increases, up from 25% in Q1. This compared to only 14% as a UK average.

Greg Lowson, president of the Greater Birmingham Chamber and head of office at law firm Pinsent Masons, said: “These figures are disappointing for the UK as a whole; however, considering the results of the chambers’ Q2 Quarterly Economic Survey, the picture for the Birmingham manufacturing sector is one of resilient productivity.
 
“With 40% of our manufacturers reporting increased domestic sales and 35% declaring improved export sales, Birmingham continues to impress and cements itself the UK’s manufacturing engine.”
 
The disappointing UK manufacturing and total industrial output figures for May 2015 were published by the Office for National Statistics.

Commenting, David Kern, chief economist of the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “Although total industrial production is up, this is mainly due to a surge in mining and quarrying, which is a highly volatile sector.

“Longer term comparisons show that both manufacturing and total industrial production are still well below their pre-recession levels in Q1 2008, in contrast to the thriving services sector.

“Although manufacturing is coping with very difficult global circumstances, the sector is facing serious structural problems. While Eurozone growth prospects have improved recently, the weakness of the Euro against the pound has made it harder for UK businesses to compete and Greece’s ongoing problems could exacerbate this.”