Sheffield shows why manufacturing and finance enjoy a glorious synergy August 2, 2015 My title might be “lord mayor of the City of London”, but really that’s quite misleading. It’s my job to represent the whole of the UK’s financial and professional services industry, wherever it’s based. London may well be the largest single financial services centre in the UK, but 1.7m of the 2.1m people employed by [...]
Britain is a great place for manufacturing – and businesses like mine prove it July 29, 2015 Some say that manufacturing in the UK has become unfashionable. The most recent figures show that the UK continues to operate a substantial trade deficit, standing at £400m in May this year. This was caused by our goods sector, where we operated a startling £8bn deficit. These numbers can be hard to contextualise. What they [...]
CBI industrial trends survey: British manufacturers are being hurt by the strong pound July 29, 2015 The strength of the pound and the Greek debt crisis continue to make life difficult for Britain's manufacturers. The CBI's monthly industrial trends survey showed firms' order books fell to their lowest level since July 2013. The monthly gauge dropped to -10 this month, from -7 in June, although it remains above the historical average [...]
UK manufacturing companies’ profitability falls to two-year low July 8, 2015 Profitability of UK companies fell to 11.9 per cent in the first quarter of this year – slightly down from the previous quarter's 12.1 per cent, figures published today showed. The Office for National Statistics said the drop had been driven down by rates of return for manufacturing companies, which slumped to 6.8 per cent, [...]
Business group shocked by new weaker manufacturing figures July 6, 2015 A leading business group has said that it is surprised by new figures out today showing a sharp slowdown in UK manufacturing. The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) quarterly economic survey (QES), based on responses from nearly 7,500 firms, recorded drops in all the key manufacturing balances in the second quarter, with most balances lower than [...]
UK manufacturing sector growth slumps to a two-year low July 1, 2015 The UK manufacturing sector grew at its slowest pace in more than two years, partly due to a strong pound strangling European demand for exports. The Markit/CIPS manufacturing purchasing managers' index (PMI) fell to 51.4 in June, the lowest since April 2013, and from a downwardly revised figure of 51.9 a month earlier. However, the [...]
Manufacturers put their money behind productivity programmes June 28, 2015 THE VAST majority of UK manufacturers are picking up the pace of investment, according to a new survey out today. The survey of 750 UK businesses with a turnover of £2m to £25m was carried out by Lombard Asset Finance for EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation. Seventy-one per cent of manufacturers surveyed said that they felt [...]
Oil and gas fires up industrial production – but manufacturing output slides June 10, 2015 Industrial output rose by 0.4 per cent in April, according to figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), beating economists' forecasts of a 0.1 per cent rise. The bumper figure was driven by mining and quarrying which rose by 5.6 per cent – and this was helped along by oil and gas extraction which [...]
Car manufacturer Renault offers RCI Banque bank account for UK savers June 8, 2015 Car manufacturer Renault’s finance arm is launching savings accounts in the UK for the first time, diversifying its funding base. Motor companies often run finance businesses to fund customers’ purchases of their cars, as well as related insurance products. But offering a wider range of services is not as common. RCI Banque, as the unit [...]
Ghost in the machine: Rolls-Royce’s new Ghost hits the almost imperceptible sweet spot between manufacturing and art June 4, 2015 Automobiles are no strangers to art galleries. Among the MoMA’s permanent collection in New York is a pristine multi-story car park that includes a scarlet 1946 Cisitalia 202 GT, a matt olive ‘52 VW Beetle, and a blue metallic 1961 Jaguar E-type roadster. For three days in London last Christmas, though, there was a marque [...]