As we look, slightly bleary-eyed, into what 2018 may hold, it is clear that many uncertainties lie ahead. There will be surprises, some pleasant, some not, but there is one certainty: that the performance of the economy will stand or fall on how the services sector does.

This is not to dismiss the revival in manufacturing, which is enjoying its best growth since 2010-11, according to official figures, part of a strong global industrial upturn. Although the manufacturing purchasing managers’ index showed a disappointing dip yesterday, in contrast with a very buoyant eurozone, Britain’s factories continue to enjoy solid growth.

But there is only a certain amount of heavy lifting that manufacturing, with a 10.1 per cent weight in gross domestic product, can do and