UK royal baby business boom

It is not long now until the big day when Britain's new prince or princess is born, and British manufacturers in various industries are anticipating a royal baby boom. Manufacturing in the UK unexpectedly fell in May, contracting at its fastest rate since January. The recent drop comes at the same time as consumer sentiment appears to picking up in Britain. "The reality is we needed something that had a feel good factor in this country. Everyone in the British mother and baby industry is grateful to her royal highness for turning the eyes of the world onto the UK and onto UK-designed mother and baby brands," said Laura Tenison, Founder of JoJo Maman Bebe, a UK baby brand. In other areas of the economy, a June manufacturing survey showed the highest growth in two years. Surveys of the service sector also appeared to defy the latest gloomy figures from Britain's Office of National Statistics. The markets also perked up with the arrival of the Bank of England's new Governor Canadian Mark Carney, the first foreigner at the Bank in its 319- year history. And there is good news on the housing front, too, with surveyors saying prices are on the move, while retailers register their royal anticipation. "We can expect people to be buying the royal bib, and all sorts of things that are themed with the name of the new baby, or the color of the new baby," said Prof. Joshua Bamfield of Retail Research Center. Even the bill for a national party to welcome the newest member of the House of Windsor will impact the wider economy, with the Brits expected to spend an estimated 97 and-a-half million dollar on alcohol, 85 million on collectibles like figurines and commemorative baby clothes and another 130 million on food and festivities. While the plus points from this happy imminent event could be a measure of a new confidence in the British economy, the reality of the latest manufacturing figures - a drop of 0.8 percent - points to a slow growth and a still weakened marketplace.