British manufacturing firms benefited from increased orders from foreign markets across the board over the last quarter, it has been revealed.
According to the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and Experian's study new orders were up during the period for the fifth quarter in a row.
Meanwhile, the majority of the 500 firms surveyed also said they expected output to increase over the next three months, despite fears of an economic slowdown.
Peter Gutmann of Experian said: "The survey results provide some encouragement at a testing time. Most regions are quite upbeat about orders and exports for the next three months.
"Perhaps manufacturers are pinning their hopes on the boost to UK competitiveness from sterling's near-10 per cent depreciation against the euro since November as an offset to slower growth in the eurozone."
The UK regions experiencing the strongest gains were in Yorkshire and the Humber as well as the East Midlands and Wales.
