EEF survey shows manufacturers credit cost fall

According to a quarterly survey run by EEF, the biggest trade body in the manufacturing sector, manufacturers have reported a significant improvement in the overall cost of credit for the first time in a year with the percentage of companies complaining of increasing fees and interest rates for credit having noticeably decreased over the past three months. Robin Johnson, partner and head of the Industrial Engineering sector group at international law firm Eversheds, comments:

"The trends we are currently seeing from the manufacturing sector are evidence of the self-restructuring the industry has been undertaking. Manufacturing companies have adapted to the times by taking steps to immediately adopt lean procedures, and the benefits of this are now being seen in the lower cost of capital. Banks are once again offering competitive credit rates to businesses that have been able to modify their business practices and methods in order to weather the crisis. Manufacturing is well poised to take advantage of this and the evidence of the upturn we are seeing is a harbinger of future opportunities for growth."