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Millennial high for North East manufacturing

The North East’s manufacturing sector has hit its highest level since the turn of the Millennium, according to new data. The North East Chamber of Commerce’s quarterly survey, the North East Business Barometer, shows that the regional economy ended 2006 in “rude health” with manufacturing leading the way. The report showed businesses are enjoying a boom period with sales and orders soaring both home and abroad.

Maggie Pavlou, NECC president, said: “This is a phenomenal effort across the board from the region’s business community. Employers should be extremely proud of the good work they are doing which is creating more jobs and greater opportunities for people to carve their careers out here in the North East. “There is no room for complacency as we have seen in the past how damaging a downturn in the economy can be. However, a great deal of work has been put in to create a solid foundation for business growth and NECC has said for some time now that the fruits of that labour are being realised.”

The Business Barometer showed that domestic sales rose sharply, up 9% on the average over the previous nine quarters. Equally, sales overseas were well above the average since the end of 2004. NECC members are also reporting increases in their order books for UK and export trade in the coming year. Overall, the vast majority of companies that participated in the survey expected their future turnover to continue to rise and short-term business confidence is strong.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .