The latest Contract Manufacturing Index (CMI) shows that the UK market for subcontract manufacturing ended the year on a strong positive note after a difficult twelve months. Performance during the year was driven down by buyers putting new projects on hold and focusing on reducing stock in response to uncertain demand. It reached an all-time low in August. The rebound in the fourth quarter was impressive, with the market up 106% compared to the previous three months as purchasing organisations unlocked budgets and started to place new work with suppliers. Overall, the market ended the year 7.5% higher than at the end of 2022.
The CMI is produced by sourcing specialist Qimtek and reflects the total purchasing budget for outsourced manufacturing of companies looking to place business in any given month. This represents a sample of over 4,000 companies who could be placing business that together have a purchasing budget of more than £3.4bn and a supplier base of over 7,000 companies with a verified turnover in excess of £25bn.
