A boom in manufacturing which saw the UK named the eighth largest industrial nation is expected to level off as it prepares to leave the European Union – a significant market for East Anglian exporters.

With British manufacturers taking advantage of growing international markets and output increasing by a third in the last three months, the country is now in the world's top ten largest manufacturers by output.

But data from trade body EEF shows EU markets still dominate order books, with the East of England among the regions most reliant on the bloc.

In 2016, 52.5% of its manufactured exports went to the EU – the second highest level in the UK.

Charlotte Horobin, region director for EEF in the East of England, said: 'Manufacturers appear to have taken the recent political upheaval in their stride and are taking advantage of growing world markets to make hay while the sun shines.

'This period is likely to be the peak, however, and we are likely to see a more stable picture in the coming months rather than any further significant acceleration.

'There is little doubt that Brexit is likely to weigh on sentiment over the next 12 months with uncertainty over the UK's terms of exit. As such, it is vital the government sends a signal to industry and investors in the UK and overseas that it is doing everything in its power to get growth of the UK economy back on the agenda. This must include a bold and ambitious cross-government industrial strategy.'

The East's £16.7bn manufacturing sector employs 217,000 people and accounts for a higher-than-average total regional output at 12.2%.

Its 13,780 manufacturing firms have a productivity rate of 99.2% – making it the most productive region.

Research by the Office for National Statistics suggests exporters have benefitted from the depreciation in sterling since the EU referendum, with higher prices for exports when reported in sterling resulting in higher turnover.

Paul Veried, managing director of Foster Refrigerator in King's Lynn, said: 'Because of the currency movements exports have been very positive. Business has improved probably in the region of 10% and I think that is primarily due to the currency effect.

'But for commercial refrigeration there are components that we buy in, and the cost of importing these has increased.'

Mark Lansley, managing director of Broadland Wineries in Cawston, said the weaker pound had made trading with the US and Sweden easier.

'People in our industry are looking more towards exports than they were because of the pound, but also there is a general feeling that if we leave Europe it will become just another trading bloc, like the US.'

He added that certainty was still many business' biggest concern around Brexit. 'If Theresa May said we will be leaving and going to World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules I would be absolutely fine with that, because it would give us certainty and we would know what we were in for. We need certainty, not a government that is vacillating.'