UK manufacturers criticise government policy as slowdown begins to bite

According to data published today by industry body Make UK in the latest quarterly Make UK / BOD manufacturing output report, Britain’s manufacturers are battening down the hatches amid a sharp slowdown in activity.  

Based on a survey of 336 companies carried out during August, the survey results point to a decline in output and orders and a slowdown in recruitment activity. 

As a result of the findings Make UK - which represents 20,000 companies across the UK - has cut its manufacturing growth forecast for 2023 to -0.5% and is now forecasting just 0.5% growth for 2024.

Many respondents place at least some of the blame on global and domestic policy decisions.  For instance, three quarters of companies (72.7%) believe that policy incentives elsewhere (e.g. US Inflation Reduction Act and similar EU measures) are making UK investments harder to justify, while a similar number (74.1%) say a lack of policy consistency in the UK is damaging efforts to build a consistent business environment. More than half of companies have withheld investment in the last two years as a result of the uncertain business environment, whilst just over half says they would have invested more in the last five years or, in the future, if there was a formal industrial strategy in place.