The UK economy has been outstripping both France and Germany as Brexit Britain experiences a demands boom in the service sector, new data has shown.

Following the Labour Party‘s win in the general election last month, British companies have reported a surge in new clients and contracts – the fastest page recorded since May 2023.

According to the S&P Global UK purchasing manager’s index (PMI), Britain’s new business index increased from 51.6 in June to 54.9 in July as new clients from Europe, North America and Asia flooded in.

The PMI also found that confidence in UK business hit a five-month high after the election of Sir Keir Starmer brought in a bigger degree of certainty over government policy.

In the meantime, France and Germany have experienced a considerable slowdown in their activities. France’s services index rose to 50.1 – just above the 50 no-change benchmark. In Germany, the services index cooled from 53.1 in June to 52.5 in July.

De la Rubia noted Berlin requires consistent growth in services to push back on the impact the downturn in manufacturing is having on the country.

He added: “Growth could keep slowing down in the next few months.

“New business only grew a little in July, and outstanding business has been dropping almost continuously since mid-2023.

“If the service sector stalls, the whole economy could slip into a recession because manufacturing continues to shrink sharply.”