AMID a slew of grim economic news, much of it related to the dampening impact of Brexit and well-founded fears over the future as the UK leaves the European Union, the CBI’s latest Scottish manufacturing survey is a mild tonic.
It signals the fastest rise in new orders for Scottish manufacturers since October 1973 in the three months to July, and the sharpest increase in employment since comparable records began in June 1966. Scottish manufacturers are also upbeat about the prospects for the coming three months.
It is worth emphasising the CBI survey has, over the last couple of years, signalled major volatility for the sector in Scotland in terms of new orders, employment and output volumes, showing sharp drops as well as big rises.
And the CBI’s report, like a survey last week from Scottish Chambers of Commerce, points to skills shortages. This is very worrying amid signs that workers from other EU member states are leaving the UK in the wake of the Brexit vote, and given justified fears among businesses over future immigration policy.
We also have to bear in mind manufacturing, while still a crucial sector, accounts for only about 10 per cent of economic output in the UK as a whole these days.
That said, the strong CBI manufacturing survey is welcome. It is important for this sector, and the Scottish economy as a whole, that manufacturing has as much momentum as possible.
We are, after all, heading into even tougher times, with a continuing lack of clarity from the UK Government one of few certainties for a justifiably concerned business sector.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel