The recovery gathers pace. Company trading updates have been increasingly positive in recent months, as many point to an economic recovery that is gathering momentum, resulting in trading being better than expected and order books starting to show sustained improvement. Indeed, the rate of upgrades runs 60% greater than downgrades. A broad range of economic data confirms the recovery has gathered pace over recent months, supporting companies’ and analysts’ optimism. The UK PMI data for May now stands at 65.6 points, its highest for many years, while the Bank of England now predicts the fastest pace of economic growth since World War II. Many companies that have taken costs out during the pandemic should experience an accelerated drop-through.