Manufacturing Businesses Looking to Invest in Equipment to Meet Demand
Posted on 25.02.2014, by Rob Warlow
With the economy picking up confidence is beginning to return and small to medium sized manufacturers in England are set to embark on a major investment drive in order to meet expected increase in demand.
A survey from the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) has revealed that 86% of respondents were planning to invest in capital equipment over the next twelve months, with companies looking to spend £121,000 on average.
Two thirds of the firms questioned are looking to purchase new plant and machinery, and just over half are focused on upgrading IT/communications infrastructure and nearly a third on improving premises.
So what’s prompting this investment drive?
The key reasons cited by those businesses surveyed were boosting efficiency and quality (31%), followed by developing new products/processes (30%) and extending existing capacity (22%).
Interestingly fewer than one in five companies (19%) said they planned to approach banks to fund capital equipment purchases in the next year, with manufacturers instead choosing to secure money via grants (27%) and the Regional Growth Fund (21%).
A even more positive sign that the economy is kicking back into life is that 62% of companies reported an increase in sales over the last six months, whilst over three quarters of businesses (76%) expect to boost sales between now and June 2014.
If you are looking at growth plans this year then we’re happy to have a chat about your financing options.