Smaller manufacturing firms have reported an increase in orders for the first time in more than three years.
The CBI said the total number of orders increased over the past three months, with 33 per cent of firms reporting an increase and 28 per cent saying they were down.
Optimism among small manufacturers was improving at the strongest rate for two years, according to the survey of 700 firms.
Hugh Morgan Williams, chairman of the CBI's small firms council said: "This will mean an awful lot to smaller manufacturers."
Tuesday May 18, 2004
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