Good new year, bad new year? Manufacturers are "pretty positive" about prospects for the first half of 2005, says Graham Hayes, chairman of the Engineering and Machinery Alliance, the umbrella body that brings together associations representing British manufacturing companies. "But beyond that our expectations are mixed," he adds. "Having said that, however, I see us as realistically confident in our own abilities as UK manufacturers and believe that commentators here should look more objectively at what we are achieving as we compete at home and abroad!' But prospects vary from industry to industry, as do the hopes and fears expressed for the coming year. PE put simple but direct questions to the individual associations within EAMA to discover what the big issues will be in 2005.
