The CBI’s Industrial Trends Survey, drawn from hundreds of manufacturers, shows spending plans weakening across buildings, plant and machinery, innovation, and training — with training budgets at their lowest point since 2020.
Training and retraining budgets among UK manufacturers have fallen to their weakest level since 2020, according to the CBI’s latest Industrial Trends Survey. The survey, covering around 300 manufacturers, found that spending plans across buildings, plant and machinery, product and process innovation, and training all deteriorated over the period to April — with firms citing uncertainty about demand, inadequate returns, and labour shortages as the main brakes on capital spending.
Manufacturing output was broadly unchanged in the quarter to April, but domestic and export orders both fell. Sentiment across the sector deteriorated, and manufacturers expect output and orders to remain weak in the near term.
That’s a problem for Kent. The county’s manufacturing base — spanning food and drink, plastics, engineering, chemicals, and logistics operations strung along the M2, M20, A2, and Channel corridor — depends on steady capital investment to hold its competitive edge. If firms are pulling back on machinery upgrades and training budgets simultaneously, productivity and skills development take a hit at the same time.
Reduced training spend could also slow demand for Kent and Medway’s workforce upskilling programmes, at a point when local economic development bodies are already handling a difficult environment for industrial growth.
The CBI figures are consistent with broader UK manufacturing surveys from 2025, which have reported subdued investment and mounting pressure from costs and uncertainty. But the specific weakness in training — the worst balance recorded since 2020 — stands out. Skills investment tends to be cut early when confidence drops, and it’s often the last thing restored when conditions improve.
Source: @CBItweets