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Manufacturing News – Early January 2025

Estimated reading time 2 minutes

West Midlands manufacturers are facing mixed conditions as the year ends, according to the latest report from Make UK and business advisory firm BDO.

While output and orders were weak in the final quarter, especially due to the phasing out of older models in the automotive sector, there are signs of improvement in early 2025, with orders expected to rise by +33%, well above the national average.  Job prospects and investment intentions have also seen positive growth, jumping to +29% and +19%.

However, overall business confidence in the region has dropped to its lowest point in a year, driven by rising costs and concerns over the Budget.


A new Midlands-based event, Subcontractor.Live, will showcase UK subcontract service providers at the National Motorcycle Museum on 27 November 2025.

Specialist engineering and industrial event organiser The Engineering Network (TEN) has announced the arrival of Subcontractor.Live in the Autumn of 2025. With so many UK manufacturers proactively seeking the ‘Holy grail’ of cost reduction accompanied by quality improvement, the new event will be a valuable platform for them to access UK based businesses providing subcontract services or the equipment for OEMs to do their own thing. 

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