British factories tackle bulging order book as supply chains come back online 

An unravelling in supply chain snarl ups is freeing up materials for British factories to use to clear an enormous backlog of work, reveals a closely watched survey published today.

Improvements in the functioning of the global logistics system has restored flows of components used by British manufacturers, allowing them to complete work snowballed due to low inventories, according to IHS Markit’s latest purchasing managers’ index (PMI).

Strong domestic demand also boosted factories’ output.

“Growth was boosted by stronger domestic demand and by firms catching up on delayed work as material shortages and supply chain disruptions started to dissipate,” Rob Dobson, director at IHS Markit, said.

The UK manufacturing PMI climbed to a three-month high of 58 in February, up from 57.3 in January.