Small UK manufacturers gloomiest in over 30 years – CBI survey

The latest survey of small UK manufacturers, conducted by the Confederation of British Industry, showed that a majority of them expect the manufacturing output to see the biggest slump in 30 years due to the coronavirus induced lockdowns across the Kingdom.

Key findings

“Smaller manufacturers had already suffered the largest drop in output and the biggest quarterly loss in jobs since the financial crisis during the three months to April.

SME manufacturers are seeing a sharp shock to activity due to the COVID-19 outbreak, with expectations signalling a sharper downturn to come.

The CBI said its members’ expectations for factory output over the next three months were the weakest since its survey started in 1988.

Total economic output could fall by more than a third during the second quarter - a drop with no precedent in more than 300 years - according to a scenario published by the government’s budget forecasters last month.

The CBI conducted its survey of 301 small manufacturers from March 25 to April 14.”