Government urged to help amid warning manufacturing sector has ‘hit the buffers’

The Government is being urged to help manufacturers after a new report warned the sector has “hit the buffers”.

Make UK and business advisers BDO said their research among more than 300 manufacturers suggested that increasing employment taxes and wider business costs were affecting companies, as well as worries of a global trade war.

Firms are freezing recruitment and considering redundancies, while investment plans are being delayed and in some cases cancelled altogether, said the report.

Make UK called on the Government to reform business rates, fix the “broken” skills system and launch a long-term industrial strategy which has advanced manufacturing at its heart.

Verity Davidge, policy director at Make UK, said: “Manufacturers feel like they are currently wading through treacle, facing barriers and increased costs being imposed on them at every turn.

“The one light at the end of the tunnel is the prospect of a modern, long-term industrial strategy which will enable them to plan for the future with confidence in a supportive policy environment.

“This cannot be a case of more jam tomorrow, come the summer it has to be a case of jam today.”