Wood machinery suppliers appear to be bucking the slowdown reported in the rest of UK manufacturing, according to a TTJ poll.
National Statistics data shows that, for the three months to June, manufacturing output fell 2% on the previous three. It is the second successive quarter for manufacturing to fall.
But the machinery suppliers polled by TTJ – Trymwood Machinery Sales, Michael Weinig (UK), Biesse Group UK, and Titman Tip Tools – all reported trade at, or around, the same level as last August.
Although Michael Weinig (UK) is running at around 5% below target, sales levels are currently the same as last year. Managing director Malcolm Buchanan said: ‘We have got about the same level of trade that we had this time last year. I don’t know where all this talk of recession is coming from – we seem to be very good at talking ourselves into recession.’
Biesse Group UK reports that business is turning out to be a mirror image of last year.
Sales manager Kevin Lovell said: ‘It is turning out very similar to 2000. We expect that by the end of the year we will have a net result about the same as last year – or there might even be a marginal improvement.’
Trymwood Machinery Sales thought business might even be picking up. Julian Gibson, sales engineer, said: ‘We have certainly not noticed any slowdown. If anything, business is picking up as companies are investing on the back of lower interest rates.’
Titman Tip Tools was the only company to say that sales had actually fallen. But sales manager Michael Morris also said that, while Titman was ‘slightly down’ on this time last year; ‘September will give us the test because that is traditionally a very good month.’
