Manufacturers support growth

British business output remains within growth territory despite confidence levels staying on a downward trajectory, according to BDO’S latest snapshot of the economy.

The accountancy firm’s Business Trends Report – published today – suggests that “resilient” manufacturing growth is propping up business output.

The report’s main output index was largely unchanged at 97.78 points in September, up fractionally from 97.72 the previous month and a “promising” increase from 95.34 in July.

BDO said that while this remains below the long-term trend of 100, September’s performance showed that business growth is slowly picking up despite “persisting political and economic uncertainty”.

Having risen for a third consecutivemonth,increasedoutput from the UK’S manufacturing sector is the sole driving force behind this growth.

BDO’S manufacturing output index now stands at 103.26, up from 102.06 in August and 100.16 in July. This also marks a significant uplift from last September, when growth within the sector sat at 97.57.

Business optimism dipped 0.06 points to 101.47 in September. Confidence has been on a “gentle” downward trajectory since spring 2017 when Theresa May called a snap general election. However, BDO’S forward-looking optimism index still remains above the longterm growth trend of 100.