UK factories slash jobs and stockpile goods

British factories slashed jobs in February and braced for Brexit by stockpiling goods at the fastest pace seen in any G7 country since records started in the early 1990s, a survey showed.

The IHS Markit/CIPS UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI), a gauge of activity in British industry, fell to 52 points from 52.6 in January.