Black Country manufacturers outperforming rest of UK says Chamber
BLACK Country manufacturers outperformed the national average during the second quarter of 2015, the area’s chamber of commerce has said.
Kevin Rogers, CEO of Paycare and vice president of the chamber, said the area’s performance was notable when set against the latest CBI Monthly Industrial Trends Survey which concluded that both UK and export orders have grown during August.
“UK and export orders for Black Country manufacturers grew 13% and 15% more than the national average during Q2. Price pressure from pay and overheads is rising but this is being balanced by expectations that raw materials and finance costs will drop, said Rogers.
“UK and export sales for Black Country manufacturers grew 4% and 9% more than the regional (West Midlands) average during Q2 which is good news but our manufacturers are much more downbeat about turnover and profitability expectations over the next 12 months.”
He has urged firms in the four areas to take part in the chamber’s regular Quarterly Economic Survey so it can use the feedback to develop a true picture of the state of the Black Country’s economy.
“We piloted a Strategic Leadership programme through the Black Country Growth Hub this year. This was as a result of what we were hearing: that 90% of businesses see leadership skills as one of the key strategic needs for growth,” added Rogers.
“The programme has had a significant effect and as a result more of our businesses are navigating their way through all the offerings that are currently available, offerings that we at the chamber can help businesses make sense of. We have employed specialists to help this process and are launching our commercial Strategic Leadership programme in October.”
Further information is available on the chamber’s website.
“In order to deliver our aim to double the size of the Black Country economy by the end of 2023, we need all 32,000 businesses in the Black Country to grow. We have more than 150 years’ experience in supporting local businesses and we look forward to working with partners to put the Black Country on the global industrial map,” said Rogers.
