Q1 sales for UK fashion manufacturers surge despite drop in confidence

First quarter sales for UK fashion manufacturers surged despite a drop in business confidence, according to new data by Unleashed.

The inventory management firm said that small and medium enterprises (SMEs) within the UK’s clothing and fashion manufacturing industry made 68 percent more sales revenue in Q1 compared to the last quarter of 2024.

This further reflected a 171 percent uptick in sales year-on-year, as revenue amounted to 591,752 pounds, Unleashed reported.

This came despite both a drop in profitability and in business confidence, which had “turned negative for the first time since 2022 on the back of tax rises, inflation, weak growth and increased global uncertainty”.

Profitability, meanwhile, dropped 36 percent YoY to 4.14 pounds, while, when compared to Q4 2024, the decrease was 53 percent.

Lead times also dropped down to 19 days on average, which Unleashed said “offers some reassurances” as “faster delivery times allow businesses to reorder in smaller quantities”.

Speaking on the data, Joe Llewellyn, general manager of ERP Small Business at The Access Group, Unleashed’s parent company, said the “unusual business conditions of the first three months of the year had generally played out well for the country’s smaller producers”.

Llewellyn added: “Anecdotally, what we’re hearing from some of our customers is that Q1 brought welcome windfalls. Some tariff-affected international customers have turned to UK firms to do business, while others raced to order more before tariff pauses came off.

“That’s delivered a shot in the arm for some firms, but more importantly we’re hearing that steadily falling bank rates are starting to stimulate the economy, which obviously is very welcome to UK manufacturers who’ve posted a really strong start to the year.”