Manufacturing Barometer special focus: Shaping the future of SME Manufacturing

Shaping the future of SME Manufacturing2

Taking the pulse of over 400 manufacturing SMEs across England, including those supported by our Manufacturing Growth Programme, showed that whilst many businesses are still facing challenges because of the COVID-19 pandemic, for others, the marketplace has picked up slightly over recent months.

The majority of respondents reported a reduction in profits between April and September, but over a quarter of companies actually saw an increase throughout this period. Future investment predictions are also more positive than they have been since the COVID-19 crisis began, and show a resilience amongst SME manufacturers, but this report indicates that the manufacturing sector is not yet back to its pre-pandemic position.

Despite some positive predictions for the coming six months, it is clear that the SME manufacturing sector is still working its way through current economic challenges, and it will be interesting to
see, in next quarter’s Barometer report, how the second national lockdown impacts the sector further.

Share this

Tap into our insights

Oxford Innovation Advice offers Insights into SME needs and policy effectiveness for policy makers, funders and business support commissioners. It draws on our 30 years’ experience of delivering positive economic growth by enabling scale-ups to achieve their full potential. Each edition concludes with an ‘Implications for funders and Policy makers’ section.

Oxford Innovation Logo

Covid-19 Statement

Update – Wednesday 15th December 2021

Our Innovation Centres remain operational and accessible, and provide a safe environment for our staff and customers. We continue to assess the risk of COVID-19 alongside the latest guidance from government. In the meantime our Innovation Centre remains COVID-19 Secure and fully open for business. Our detailed risk assessment can be found here.