Monday, March 17, 2025

Yorkshire & Humber manufacturers see strong start to the year

Yorkshire & Humber manufacturers have seen a strong start to the year according to a survey published by Make UK and business advisory firm BDO.

The Make UK/BDO Manufacturing Outlook Q1 survey shows that both output (+26%) and orders (+32%) were very positive, although the picture is set to ease in the next quarter with forward looking balances of +11% and +6% respectively.

The strong performance this quarter reflects demand for metals products for the construction sector.

In addition, Make UK has begun to see a pattern of regional variations of increased activity across some areas of the UK which it believes may reflect company behaviour in certain regions in response to the economic shocks of the last few years. It believes that these variations in regional and sector performance may become normal moving forward.

In response to this positive picture companies are looking to take on more people with recruitment intentions at +37%, which is substantially ahead of the national average. Capital expenditure plans are also ahead of the national average at +26%.

To build on this largely buoyant sentiment, Make UK is calling on the Government to bring forward a comprehensive, fully funded and modern, long term industrial strategy which has advanced manufacturing at its heart, something it has committed to do before the summer.

This must be aligned across Government to include a defence industrial strategy as well as energy, trade and skills strategies that demonstrate to business and foreign investors that there is a cohesive plan to grow the UK economy.

Make UK is forecasting that manufacturing will contract by -0.5% in 2025, down from a forecast of -0.2% in the last quarter, before growing by 1% in 2026. GDP is forecast to grow by 1% in 2025 and 1.5% in 2026.

Dawn Huntrod, Region Director at Make UK in the North, said: “This has been a strong start to the year for manufacturers in Yorkshire & Humber with the region bucking the national picture. To build on this it’s now essential that Government brings forward an industrial strategy at the earliest opportunity. This will give manufacturers the confidence to plan for the future with a stable, supportive policy environment.”

Steve Talbot, Head of Manufacturing at BDO across Yorkshire & Humber, said: “Manufacturers across Yorkshire & Humber rely on manufacturing, particularly the demand for metal products. It’s encouraging to see the sector across the region looking ahead with positive growth intentions, but we cannot be complacent – our manufacturers are resilient but they’re not invincible.

“Manufacturers across Yorkshire & Humber now need targeted support from government, whether that be reducing complexity, streamlining trade or boosting access to capital to enable them to focus on growth.”

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our news site - please take a moment to read this important message:

As you know, our aim is to bring you, the reader, an editorially led news site and magazine but journalism costs money and we rely on advertising, print and digital revenues to help to support them.

With the Covid-19 pandemichaving a major impact on our industry as a whole, the advertising revenues we normally receive, which helps us cover the cost of our journalists and this website, have been drastically affected.

As such we need your help. If you can support our news sites/magazines with either a small donation of even £1, or a subscription to our magazine, which costs just £31.50 per year, (inc p&P and mailed direct to your door) your generosity will help us weather the storm and continue in our quest to deliver quality journalism.

As a subscriber, you will have unlimited access to our web site and magazine. You'll also be offered VIP invitations to our events, preferential rates to all our awards and get access to exclusive newsletters and content.

Just click here to subscribe and in the meantime may I wish you the very best.








Latest news

Related news