Manufacturing growth tumbling, says BDO/EEF report
Manufacturing growth has slowed sharply in the fourth quarter with East Midlands companies reporting a drop in output and orders, according to new research.
Over the last three months manufacturers in the region said their output fell from +3 per cent, which indicated growth, to -19 per cent.
Total orders for the region also fell from a balance of 6 per cent to -19 per cent.
The results were compiled from the quarter four 2011 Manufacturing Outlook survey from accountancy firm BDO and manufacturers' organisation EEF.
Outlooks for the first quarter of 2012 are "gloomy", said BDO, as manufacturers in the East Midlands are predicting further drops in output and orders to -28 per cent and -29 per cent respectively.
Richard Halstead, EEF Midlands regional director, said: "Manufacturing has been a key pillar in the recovery so far. However, short-term confidence has all but fallen away.
"The signs of caution that had been emerging through the second half of this year have clearly become more entrenched as global growth concerns have escalated. There are not only question marks over wider manufacturing prospects at the beginning of 2012, but also the exports and investment needed to underpin sustainable growth."
