Juergen Maier, managing director of Siemens Industry UK and Ireland has commented in response to the revised GDP figures released today. He said: ‘While these figures are slightly less encouraging than previous estimates, it is a very small change, and manufacturing saw flat growth over the last quarter. It therefore just confirms a ‘no growth’ economy. I however believe that we will still avoid a significant double dip recession and soon return to small GDP growth in this or the next quarter. This is largely due to the fact that the private sector, especially manufacturing, is feeling positive about the medium to long term prospects for British business, and also because there are policy initiatives such as reductions to corporation tax and greater support for manufacturing from the Government, that should help encourage exports over time.
‘Keeping this relatively upbeat mood despite the small drop in GDP is paramount especially for the manufacturing sector to ensure we keep investing in technology and skills hence preparing ourselves to be more globally competitive as an inevitable growth period returns.’
About Siemens in the UK
Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 169 years ago and now employs 12,972 people in the UK. Last year’s revenues were £4.4 billion*. As a leading global engineering and technology services company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s major challenges, across the key sectors of energy, industry, infrastructure & cities and healthcare. Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey. The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany. For more information, visit www.siemens.co.uk
* Data includes intercompany revenue. Data may not be comparable with revenue reported in annual or interim reports.
