“Manufacturers’ confidence dropping in every region post-Brexit vote” suggests EEF-BDO study
A new report from EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, and BDO LLP (the accountancy and business advisory firm) shows that manufacturers’ business confidence has taken an “across the board beating” following late June’s EU Referendum vote for Brexit. Every region in England and Wales has suffered a decline in optimism, with the biggest falls seen by manufacturers in the South East and London and Wales, and the smallest by businesses located in the North East.
The annual report entitled ‘Regional Manufacturing Outlook’ draws upon survey data and the latest ONS figures to provide a longer-term picture of the health of UK manufacturing. It shows that UK manufacturers’ average confidence score just before the EU Referendum (Q2 2016) was 6.37 out of a possible ten points, but has since slumped to 5.24 following the vote.
Despite suffering the largest fall, the South East and London still ranks first in the UK for business confidence, scoring 5.7 out of a possible ten points, while Yorkshire and Humber comes in at second place (5.4 out of ten). At the opposite end of the table is the North West and the East Midlands with a score of five out of ten.