An industry survey showed British manufacturers think it will take longer than just a couple of weeks to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19. The survey was done from May 4 to May 11.
Three-quarters of the respondents do not think within six months business will be back to normal. Twice the proportion two weeks ago, 36 percent think it will take more than a year.
There will be a significant impact on companies and jobs for some time to come despite the lockdown beginning to be lifted, Make UK said.
Building sites and factories that had not been told to shut should resume operations when it was safe to do so. Some businesses are unsure of what measures they are required to take for health and safety. At the same time, they also face a broader slump in demand.
Factory output fell by 4.6 percent in March, official figures showed. As a whole, the economy narrowed by an unprecedented 5.8 percent.
