Scottish Engineering’s Quarterly Review is a trends survey of the manufacturing engineering industry produced from information gathered from our member companies. It is distributed to all member companies, MSPs, MPs, MEPs, relevent government and university departments and the Press.
QR DECEMBER 2018 IS AVAILABLE NOW
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PRESS RELEASE:
Scotland’s engineering sector has recorded a number of concerning indicators for quarter, albeit balanced by unexpected optimism overall for the coming quarter, and particularly for forecast orders. Order intake overall and specifically export orders have ended their almost two year positive run, with exports in sharp decline by 17% for the past quarter.
Scottish Engineering’s Chief Executive Paul Sheerin stated: “In many ways the results reflect the uncertainty which has been a continuing theme. Whilst orders have been down in this past quarter, forecast orders are up, perhaps reflecting that wider industry is planning for contingency as we approach the Brexit cliff. Our reported optimism must surely reflect that a deal, compromised as it may be, enables the avoidance of a no deal Brexit, and the chaos that could bring. Alongside Brexit, skills availability remains our key talking point, with organisations reporting the loss of EU nationals exiting the uncertainty. Even with reported staffing decreases, key roles remain tough to fill, and so the focus on filling the future pipeline with Foundation, Modern and Graduate apprentices is vital”
NEXT QUARTERLY REVIEW IS MARCH 2019