Manufacturers need £644m by end of April
The manufacturing sector is in urgent need of support, with half of firms requiring government funding before the end of the month, according to new research.
A survey commissioned by online business lender MarketFinance found that 51 per cent of manufacturers are interested in accessing funding through the government-backed coronavirus business interruption loan scheme (CBILS) to shore up their business for the medium to long-term.
A separate survey referenced by MarketFinance estimates that those firms collectively need £643.5m in CBILS funding before the end of April.
Meanwhile, 68 per cent reported their order books have halved in the last 30 days, while 67 per cent revealed that they have less than £50,000 cash and without any support, they will run out of money before the end of the month.
However, 64 per cent have halved order expectations for 2020 but are optimistic that the business environment will normalise by the end of the year
Read more: Two thirds of businesses think government funds won’t reach them in time
The research is based on a survey of 860 UK manufacturing businesses, who employ between 1 and 249 staff, in March 2020.
“Manufacturers are in urgent need of support,” said Anil Stocker, chief executive at MarketFinance.
“All the industry indicators show orders are down and unlikely to recover much this year. They have been hit hard by the Covid-19 outbreak.
Read more: Two thirds of SMEs face coronavirus cashflow crisis
“A number of firms have had to shut their doors and some that remain open are pivoting to make products that support the national effort to contain the spread of the virus. It’s imperative that we back these businesses.”
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