The survey of 380 manufacturers found that total order books improved slightly on January, although they remained below levels recorded in November and December. Overall export orders also rebounded after a drop in January. The motor vehicles sector was the biggest contributor to the improvement in export orders, recording its strongest performance since October 2011.

Output grew at one of the strongest rates since survey records began in 1975. Optimism about output prospects also improved, with expectations for output growth over the coming three months at their strongest since September, with 16 out of 17 sectors expecting output to expand over the next three months. 

Anna Leach, CBI Head of Economic Analysis, said: “The manufacturing sector shows continued signs of improvement with demand high and steady and output growing strongly. Growth is increasingly broad-based and firms’ growth expectations are the highest for several months.

“As the UK and global economies continue to strengthen over the coming months, we expect conditions to continue to improve for UK manufacturers and to increasingly feed through to business investment.”