A recovery in overseas orders is providing fresh encouragement for UK manufacturing and highlighting the value of international markets for specialist British engineering businesses.
The latest CBI Industrial Trends Survey saw export orders improve sharply during August, with the balance rising from -33% in July to zero. It marked the first time since June 2022 that manufacturers considered overseas order books to be at normal levels. Total order books also reached their strongest position since November 2024.
For Brierley Hill-based electrical control systems and automation specialist Banelec, the figures reinforce a principle that has shaped the company for more than two decades: engineering expertise travels.
Banelec has supplied systems for projects around the world, combining electrical control engineering, automation and specialist hazardous-area expertise with the ability to design for different markets and international standards. Its engineers have worked across more than 50 countries during the company’s history.
Managing Director Dean Banner believes that international reach gives British engineering companies access to a much wider industrial marketplace.
“Engineering has always been an international business for us,” said Banner. “A customer could be building equipment in Britain which is ultimately destined for the United States, the Middle East, Central Asia or an offshore installation. Our job is to understand where that equipment is going, how it will operate and the standards it needs to meet.
“That opens up a huge marketplace for a specialist UK engineering business. If you have the knowledge and the capability to deliver, your location becomes one part of a much bigger global picture.”
Banelec’s project history illustrates that reach.
Working with J Barnsley Cranes, the company designed hazardous-area crane controls for the Baytown Refinery Expansion Project in Houston, with systems engineered to American NEC500 requirements for Class 1 Division 2 areas. Banelec has also developed a range of hazardous and safe-area systems for the TCO project in Kazakhstan.
Its offshore experience includes a control system for a crane aboard the Johan Sverdrup platform built by Norwegian engineering group Aibel. The project called for a specialist double-redundancy fail-safe solution for a demanding offshore environment.
That international portfolio sits alongside automation and electrical control projects for major manufacturers and engineering groups. Banelec’s experience spans automotive, aerospace, steel, energy, cranes, production machinery and hazardous-area applications, with capabilities extending from control panel manufacture and PLC programming through to robotics, installation and commissioning.
Banner sees adaptability as an important part of competing internationally.
“Global projects bring different technical requirements, operating environments and ways of working,” he said. “You might be designing around American standards for one project and IECEx requirements for another. Voltages, components, certification and customer specifications can all vary.
“That experience builds knowledge within the business. Every international project adds something to the engineering capability of the team and gives us greater confidence when the next unusual application arrives.”
The improvement in export demand reported by the CBI was led in part by electrical goods, chemicals and other manufacturing businesses, sectors where specialist engineering and industrial technology play an important role.
For Banner, that creates an opportunity for UK manufacturers to think internationally when considering their future markets.
“Britain has an enormous depth of specialist engineering expertise,” he added. “There is demand for that knowledge around the world, particularly where customers need people who can understand a complex industrial problem and engineer a practical solution around it.
“We have always been proud to see systems designed and built by our team in the West Midlands operating thousands of miles away. When British manufacturers grow their international customer base, that brings opportunities back into UK factories, engineering teams and supply chains.
“The latest export figures are encouraging. Our experience tells us that British engineering has a global audience, and there is every reason for manufacturers with specialist capabilities to go out and reach it.”