Tuesday, November 07, 2006

UK manufacturing looks encouraging, said bank

Commenting on the ONS Manufacturing (Index of Production) figures for September 2006, Tony Walsh, National Director of Manufacturing at Barclays, said things looked encouraging.

Commenting on the ONS Manufacturing (Index of Production) figures for September 2006, Tony Walsh, National Director of Manufacturing at Barclays, said: 'It's encouraging times as we approach the end of the year with another consecutive increase for the manufacturing sector. The man made fibres sector was the surprise package this time with a significant increase which will be particularly well received after extended periods of challenging conditions in this market.' He added: 'It will be interesting to see how things develop bearing in mind the cautionary note struck by last week's Purchasing Manager's Index from the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply. There are clearly some concerns out there, but on the whole I am still sensing a very positive outlook.

This was the clear message from our recent survey of Manufacturers at The Manufacturing Live event that confirmed 98% of UK manufacturers are very optimistic about their prospects over the next 12 to 18 months.'