UK factory output slows in February amid Brexit and Covid supply chain woes

Firms said that coronavirus and Brexit complications have caused delays within supply chains which have impacted upon trade.

Lorries queue for the frontier control area at the Port of Dover in Kent. Picture: Gareth Fuller/PA

UK factory output last month grew at its lowest level since May as manufacturing firms were weighed down by supply chain disruption.

The data came as the closely-followed IHS Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) – which tracks output as well as new orders, supply times, input costs and employment – hit 55.1, up from 54.1 in January.