Analysis [briefing in depth]

The article discusses how well UK manufacturing can weather the gathering economic storms.UK industry had enjoyed a three-year run of monthly growth in production, and there was hope that it could prove to be resilient to recession as long as manufacturers could continue to pass on the ever-increasing costs of raw materials to their customers. But this long-term trend appeared to hit the buffers when the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply reported flat growth and pointed out that it was the emerging picture across a range of manufacturing sectors.