Small and mid-sized construction industry manufacturers saw their average sales revenue drop by more than 52% in the final quarter of last year, from nearly £562,000 to just over £268,000, according to new figures from inventory management software provider Unleashed.
The number of purchase orders placed also fell by nearly a third from 256 to 174, while lead times were slightly up quarter-on-quarter – from 15 days to 16.
The research also shows that sales revenues were down by almost 35% compared to the same period last year, and purchase orders by 3.3%.
Unleashed analysed data from 12 manufacturing categories. Across all the categories, average sales revenue dropped by more than 40% in the final quarter of 2024, from £468,215 to £275,953. The number of purchase orders placed also fell by nearly half, from 322 to 167.
Sales revenues were down by almost 22% compared to the same period last year, and purchase orders by nearly 18%.
Suppliers in the energy and chemicals market were hit hardest, seeing the sharpest decline in both sales revenue and POs of any manufacturing category. Quarter-on-quarter sales revenue was down by 63% from £587,148 to £219,024, while purchase orders dropped by 64% from 339 to 121.
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