MANUFACTURING exporters are facing a stark choice between squeezing their margins or charging more for their products than their foreign competitors because of the strong pound.

According to the latest North West Chambers of Commerce Quarterly Economic Survey, the strong pound in the second quarter of this year resulted in a drop in export orders across the region.

However, the survey wasn't all bad news, according to North West Chambers director Miles Middleton. He said: "Apart from the impact of the pound on exporters, the North West economy enjoyed another quarter of strong performance and businesses are still confident about their prospects for the coming year."

The North West Chambers of Commerce covers 19 chambers in the region, including East Lancashire.

The strong performance of the domestic sector meant that there was a sharp rise in manufacturers working at full capacity, with around a third of manufacturing and service companies reporting that they were working "flat out".

This translates to good news on the jobs front, with firms in both sectors "very confident" that they will not be shedding jobs over the next year, and a third of businesses predicting that they will be taking more people on.

The survey, sponsored by the Royal Bank of Scotland, questioned 530 manufacturing companies and 544 service companies, employing over 90,000 people altogether.

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