New figures suggest that Britain’s businesses are exporting at the highest level in more than three years.
The research, published by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), indicates that the fall in Sterling has spurred international importers to buy from the UK.
The survey of 423 firms found that export order books were the highest since December 2013. It says that the rise was particularly prominent in the manufacturing, pharmaceutical and mechanical engineering industries.
In key figures, it found that 24 per cent of businesses reported total order books to be above normal and 16 per cent said ordered were below normal, resulting in a rounded balance of +8 per cent.
Likewise, 24 per cent of businesses reported export order books to be above normal and 14 per cent below, resulting in a balance of +10 per cent, the highest since December 2013 (+11 per cent).
Anna Leach, CBI Head of Economic Intelligence, said: “It’s been a strong month for UK manufacturers, with production growing robustly and overseas demand on the up. The past fall in the pound seems finally to be helping lift demand for UK manufactured exports, which rose at one of the fastest paces in this survey’s history. And manufacturers are positive about the quarter ahead, expecting output to grow at the fastest rate since February 1995.
“But the flipside is that cost pressures are widespread, and manufacturers expect factory-gate prices to continue to rise strongly over the next three months. And this will also put pressure on prices generally.
“Innovation continues to be a fundamental driver of UK competitiveness and productivity gains and will influence the success of UK companies over the longer term.”