The latest Business Monitor report from the Engineering and Machinery Alliance shows that April was a “poor” month for the UK mechanical engineering sector in terms of orders won.

EAMA chairman Martin Walder said: “There’s no escaping the fact that April’s order numbers are worse than the last few months, particularly for domestic business.”

However, “enquiry numbers remain very strong and have been so since the turn of the year. In addition, at 33%, the Business Monitor shows the highest share of companies reporting an increase in confidence since January of last year.”