'Credit crunch' yet to damage manufacturing?

Monday, April 14, 2008

'Credit crunch' yet to damage manufacturing?

Maintenance free power and free conveyor chains with low-friction running rollers by Iwis have a built-in lubricant reservoir, which supplies the chain links and running rollers with lubricant

Iwis Antriebssysteme has introduced its Megalife range of maintenance-free power and free conveyor chains. Iwis has developed and patented a special link with specially sintered metal bushes (used along with metal casting and other technologies) and running rollers. In addition, the chains have a built-in lubricant reservoir, which supplies the chain links and running rollers with lubricant during the chain operation: The special sintered material is saturated with oil under vacuum conditions.

External Affairs director of Equifax, Neil Munroe, said: 'Business failures fell slightly by 2.8% in the Manufacturing sector year on year, down 6.8 compared to Quarter 4 2007'.

He said that the Transport and Communication Sector was the worst hit, seeing a substantial 16.3% increase year on year.

The gloomy picture was further supported by the latest CBI (Confederation of British Industry) report, which revealed that business volumes fell to a balance of -30%.

The CBI survey showed firms expect the credit crunch to get worse over the next six months, as they continue to find it difficult to raise funds, restricting business growth.

Munroe added: 'Retail shows a further 9% going bust in this quarter compared to 2007 and Services isn't far behind with an increase of 8.3%.

Construction sector was among the worst hit, with an 11% increase in businesses going 'bust''.

The regional picture revealed a 21.4% increase in failures in the North West, followed by 20.9% in the East Midlands and 20.3% in Yorkshire and Humberside.

Only Scotland continues to see a drop in the number of businesses in the region going bust, down 23.8%.

The South East saw a slight drop of 0.4% compared to the same period in 2007 and a 4.8% drop compared to Quarter 4 2007.

Munroe said: 'This is not a good start to the year for most business sectors across the country, with the credit crunch showing no signs of abating.

Banks are going to look at businesses just as closely as they are looking at individuals, making it harder for firms to get funding to pay off debts and bolster cash flow.

With this in mind we urge companies to protect themselves from 'not a good' debt by conducting rigorous credit checks, supported by ongoing monitoring of customers' and suppliers' financial status'.

He concluded: 'There are tough times ahead and smaller firms are the most vulnerable to the threat of business failure.

It only takes one customer going bust to jeopardise a business, but careful monitoring today, can reduce the threat of bad debt tomorrow.'