SCOTTISH Engineering chief executive Bryan Buchan was upbeat as he presented the industry body’s latest quarterly survey, and rightly so.

Amid the political and economic shambles in which we find ourselves, as the Brexit fiasco continues, it is indeed heartening to see the Scottish engineering sector has achieved a fifth consecutive quarter of growth in order intake, output volumes, and employment. It is also encouraging to see faster growth in new export orders.

However, while engineering companies are to be commended for their success, it is not all plain sailing.

Mr Buchan cites continuing tough times for engineering companies servicing the oil and gas sector.

He believes the US shale boom means global oil prices will remain under pressure.

And, worryingly, he notes workers from other EU countries are leaving the engineering sector in Scotland because of sterling’s weakness, at a time of skills shortages.

He gives the example of Eastern European craftspeople deciding the UK is now relatively less attractive when they look at what they could earn in euros in Germany.

This is, like the surge in inflation arising from sterling's post-Brexit vote weakness that is putting UK households under so much pressure, a matter of simple arithmetic. However, this does not make it any less discouraging.