Manufacturing Rally Lifts Hopes of Avoiding Triple-Dip [Edition 3]

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BRITISH manufacturers shrugged off the snow in January and fewer firms are going bust, raising hopes today that the UK is avoiding a dreaded triple-dip recession.

Manufacturers, one of the culprits behind Britain's shock 0.3% decline in the final three months of 2012, managed their second successive month of growth as a stronger showing at home offset a further fall in export orders, according to the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply.

Official insolvency figures also showed the lowest number of firms going bust for more than four years, helped by rock-bottom interest rates and support from lenders. There were 3834 company failures in the final three months of last …