Promising for high-end automation

Sawing machine sales were 25 per cent up on 2014, while two customers made strategic capital investments in automated warehousing systems, totalling £5 million, whereas in recent years only one was sold per year.

Looking ahead to 2016, while there are various negatives currently in global finance and oil, there is also good news for UK manufacturers that export due to the pound having weakened against the Euro and other currencies. It means that goods are less expensive for overseas customers and are therefore easier to sell abroad.

According to a recent report, only around one-fifth of UK manufacturing businesses export, a figure that Mr Wagner thinks should be higher. For this reason, he believes it is a good time for British manufacturers to keep investing in modernising their machine tool stock and in-house logistics procedures.