Almost a quarter of Manufacturing Technologies Association member companies are reporting that they are taking on new staff, according to the MTA’s latest monthly survey. They also say that their order intakes have grown by more than over 12% over the previous month. Both figures are at their highest levels since the survey started two years ago.

One MTA member, Renishaw, recently reported that it has nearly 250 vacancies.

Net order intake recorded a month-on-month increase in February, and, although invoiced sales were slightly lower than in January, most companies reported an increase of at least 20% in invoiced sales. Business confidence is running at a high level, buoyed by a level of inquiries which was at its highest level since June 2010.