Factory orders at highest since 1988

BRiTiSH manufacturers are winning business at the fastest rate for 30 years, figures showed yesterday.

Booming demand from around the world has pushed orders for UK goods to the highest level since 1988 when Margaret Thatcher was still in power.

The report, from the CBi, came as Google branded London a ‘great home’ for its business as building work started on its new offices in the capital.

And in a boost to households ahead of Christmas, senior Bank of England officials suggested the squeeze on family finances was coming to an end as inflation passes its peak and wages pick up.

Dr Gertjan Vlieghe, a member of the Bank’s monetary policy committee that this month raised interest rates for the first time in more than a decade, said: ‘We are hearing that firms are finding it more difficult to recruit and they’re starting to respond to that by paying a little more.’

in a major survey of British industry, the CBi said 28 per cent of manufacturers reported that order books were stronger than normal while just 11 per cent said they were below normal. The gap between the figures was the widest since 1988, while export orders were the strongest since 1995 as the fall in the pound since the Brexit vote boosted demand.

Anna Leach of the CBi said: ‘UK manufacturers are once more performing strongly as global growth and the lower level of sterling continue to support demand. Output growth picked up again, and export order books matched the highest in more than 20 years.’

Samuel Tombs, chief UK economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics, said: ‘Demand for UK goods is surging.’

Appearing before MPs on the Treasury Select Committee yesterday, top Bank officials suggested the worst of the squeeze on finances has passed. Deputy governor Sir Jon Cunliffe said inflation would peak before the end of the year – and may have already peaked at 3 per cent in October.

Meanwhile, Google expressed confidence in Brexit Britain at a ceremony to ‘break ground’ on the construction of its offices in Kings Cross in London, which will house 7,000 staff when completed.

Ruth Porat, the US technology giant’s chief financial officer, said: ‘The UK is a great home for Google as we continue to create high-skilled jobs, build fantastic new products, and provide digital skills training.’