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News Release from: Manufacturing Technologies Association
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 30 May 2005
Confidence is hit by MG Rover collapse
The Manufacturing Technologies Association has released the results of its Q1 2005 trends survey, to which there were 87 respondents from across the association.
The Manufacturing Technologies Association has released the results of its Q1 2005 trends survey, to which there were 87 respondents from across the association Order intake was +2% higher than in the 4th quarter of 2004
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 1 Dec 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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The machinery importers and equipment suppliers sections saw business increase, whereas the machinery manufacturers reported a marginal reduction in order intake.
The percentage balance for business confidence in the 1st quarter fell to 0% - ie the percentage of respondents (weighted by turnover) reporting that they were "more confident than 3 months ago" was equal to the percentage saying they were now "less confident" (rounded to the nearest whole number).
While the major constraint on activity continues to be a lack of orders driven by the current economic situation, the machinery manufacturers reported that capacity was an issue and in all three sections, a significant minority of respondents reported a shortage of "skilled labour".
MTA Director General, Andrew Manly commented: "While the question on confidence saw the lowest balance for two years, given that MG Rover collapsed just a few days into the data collection period for this survey, it is, if anything, surprising that confidence did not fall further".
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