TODAY’S Budget Statement has been good news for manufacturers as the Chancellor delivers to his word, says the EEF.

Jim Davison, who is South East region director for the manufactures’ organisation, which as an office in Hook, said: “Manufacturers in the South East should be delighted - the Chancellor said this would be a Budget for manufacturing and he has more than delivered on his word.

“The Government has sent a strong message that it clearly recognises the need to make the competitiveness of the UK a priority and this will benefit hard-working companies across our region as well as up and down the country.

“We made a strong case for the need to reduce the rising cost of energy faced by so many companies and the Chancellor has acted on that.

“Taken together with measures to boost investment, exports and skills, the Chancellor deserves a pat on the back. “We have always said that to achieve a resilient recovery the Government must back manufacturing and we’ve seen that from this Budget.

“We now have some of the building blocks in place which will help rebalance the economy.

“But, as the Chancellor suggests, there’s still more work to be done.

“We now need to take steps which will lead to longer-term solutions beyond current spending and electoral cycles. “This will finally give business the predictability and certainty to encourage the successive rounds of investment our economy needs.” EEF, known as the manufacturers’ organisation, has a growing membership of over 6,000 companies of all sizes, employing around 900,000 people from every sector of engineering, manufacturing, engineering construction and technology-based industries.