The Manufacturing Agenda
Welcome Resilience. Redefined. The Manufacturing Agenda shows a sector actively redefining resilience throughout the year. Manufacturers have continued to adapt to a landscape shaped by low economic growth, cost pressures and geopolitical uncertainty, while also responding to the growing influence of automation and AI. These pressures have helped to accelerate a shift in how resilience is understood. Businesses are moving away from a narrow focus on financial strength and towards a broader emphasis on operational capability, regulatory readiness and leadership alignment. The second half of 2025 brought some encouraging signs, including a gradual easing in input cost pressures. The publication of the government’s Industrial Strategy has also provided manufacturers with more clarity on future investment priorities and identified advanced manufacturing as an area of significant potential. These developments form an important part of the wider context in which manufacturers’ sentiment has evolved this year.
Confidence has softened from the exceptional levels recorded in 2023, when more than nine in 10 (92%) manufacturers said they were confident in their ability to trade through the next 12 months, reflecting the more turbulent operating environment, yet most businesses (69%) still remain optimistic about the year ahead. And while the funding environment has tightened, the majority of manufacturers have continued to navigate these conditions effectively. That optimism reflects the way the sector has approached 2025. Throughout 2025, most manufacturers have acted early, made difficult decisions when needed and continued investing in long-term stability and growth. Our research also highlights an important divergence in perspective. Boards have concentrated on sustainability requirements, supply chain reliability, exposure to tariff and trade-related risks and the wider regulatory environment , while lenders place greater weight on working capital discipline, operational performance and the depth of management teams.
Understanding how these viewpoints come together has become central to effective execution. FRP stands at that intersection. Our work across Restructuring Advisory, Corporate Finance, Debt Advisory, Financial Advisory and Forensic Services gives us a broad perspective on how decisions are made, how risks are assessed and how value can be protected and created in a more demanding environment. This enables us to help boards, investors and other stakeholders convert insight into action with greater confidence. The Manufacturing Agenda draws on the views of more than a thousand senior decision makers within the manufacturing sector and over one hundred lenders and investors. Their insight sets out the conditions manufacturers have faced this year and the areas that will matter most in 2026: capability, resilience and execution. We trust these findings will prove valuable and we welcome conversations with businesses and stakeholders interested in exploring these themes further as they shape their plans for the year ahead.
To better understand the outlook of the industry, FRP surveyed more than 1,000 decision makers at UK manufacturing businesses, ranging from SMEs to large corporates. The research was conducted by Censuswide between 10th and 21st October 2025. In the same period, Censuswide also surveyed 108 UK lenders/investors with manufacturing clients and 100+ employees.
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