British companies are concentrating their spending on marketing and staff training, leaving corporate investment in plant and machinery lagging behind their European competitors and the rest of the industrialised world according to the engineering and manufacturing federation.
Its survey found that half of companies had no plans for fixed capital investment over the next two years.
Official figures show British capital expenditure at 13 per cent lagging behind EU and other developed nations, which average 18 per cent.
Source: Robert Lea and James Hurley, The Times, 8th September 2014.