“Manufacturers finished the year strongly reporting increased output and growing order books in December which should put them on a good-footing for 2017. That said, as resilient as the sector has proved to be over the years, weaker sterling is making imports more expensive, feeding inflationary pressures which will inevitably impact domestic output.  To keep the momentum going, what we need to see now is manufacturers realising more of the investment decisions that were put on hold in 2016.”