British factories had their strongest month in a year in October but the recovery was driven by a one-off bounce from the restart of production at carmaker Jaguar Land Rover after it was hit by a cyberattack, a survey showed.
The S&P Global Purchasing Managers’ Index for Britain’s manufacturing sector climbed to 49.7 from 46.2 in September and up slightly from a provisional estimate for October of 49.6.
The index was only marginally below the 50.0 growth threshold and was the highest in 12 months.
An output measure returned to growth, led by intermediate goods which reflected the boost from JLR’s gradual reopening for companies in its supply chain.
The headline PMI index for Britain’s manufacturing sector, which accounts for around 9 per cent of total economic output in the country, has been in negative territory since October 2024.
Rob Dobson, director at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said the JLR-linked bounce could prove short-lived due to sluggish demand at home and abroad and companies were reliant on backlog work from previous orders.
Firms were also worried about finance minister Rachel Reeves’ next budget on November 26.
“Manufacturers seem to be stuck in a holding pattern until the domestic policy and geopolitical backdrops exhibit greater clarity,” Dobson said.
As well as the risk of higher taxes in the budget, confidence is being strained by US President Donald Trump’s import tariffs. The PMI’s business confidence measure hit an eight-month high but remained below average.
Hiring fell again but the drop was the least severe in 12 months.
Input costs rose at the slowest pace so far in 2025 and prices charged by manufacturers increased at their second-slowest pace of the year, welcome news for the Bank of England as it considers when to resume its cuts to interest rates.
A final PMI for British services firms in October is due to be published on Wednesday. The preliminary version of that survey showed it reached a two-month high of 51.1 last month.
