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Get ready for a bumpy future
Published:  25 March, 2013

What does to future hold for the British economy and how should you prepare for it? In this exclusive column, the economist Alan Beaulieu, who is CEO of ITR Economics*, and his colleague, Will Skebey, make some predictions and offer advice for UK industrial firms.

There are signals emerging from leading economic indicators that suggest that the business climate will improve later this year. Understanding what lies ahead for the UK and EU economies will help position your company for increased sales. But that positioning can often be hard because it might involve enacting change and saying “goodbye.”

Whether it is letting an employee go, leaving a supplier, or eliminating a part of your product offerings, these decisions are necessary to stay competitive and profitable. Making tough choices at the right time is especially important as technological advances connect businesses and customers throughout the world, turning once-regional markets into global opportunities. For UK manufacturers, keeping costs lean and margins flush (without sacrificing quality) are vital to expand business while low-cost products from Asia and Eastern Europe flow into the EU market.

The UK recession is persisting, with annual industrial production down by 2.4% in 2012, compared to 2011. But internal trends show that the recession is gradually losing momentum, and December production was only 1.7% less than in December 2011. The UK Leading Indicator, an index of financial, manufacturing, construction, and employment data, is rising above year-ago levels, signifying market conditions are generally improving. A rising Leading Indicator confirms our forecast of a more stable UK economy in the second half of this year.

Both businesses and consumers will increase spending as the economy emerges from recession. The economy should provide a positive climate for investment in capital equipment and the purchase of retail goods into 2014. However, market conditions will be favourable for only a brief period because, by the middle of 2014, global macroeconomic activity will taper off, resulting in the UK falling into recession for the third time in six years. Moving swiftly in the domestic market will help businesses to expand sales and boost profits while competitors languish in uncertainty. It is also a good time to develop a plan for loading up the pipeline in the second half of the year and in early 2014 in anticipation of the next downturn.