The UK service sector recorded a flurry of activity in June, according to the latest survey of purchasing managers from Markit/CIPS.

The services business activity figure hit 55.1 last month, up from 54.0 in May. Any figure above 50 indicates growth.

Duncan Brock, group director at CIPS, said: “Exceeding expectations the sector ended on a positive note at the end of the second quarter, buoyed up by the fastest rise in new orders in over a year and the strongest overall performance since last October.”

“However the downside of this achievement came in the form of relentless capacity difficulties as business backlogs rose to an acute degree, not seen for around three years. Not even the minor uplift in hiring could alleviate the problem as salary pressures and the struggle to find skilled hires caused firms to hesitate to increase staff numbers further.”

The upward trajectory was the same in the Eurozone, with the IHS Markit’s Final Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index hitting 54.9 in June. The figure is a good overall indicator of eurozone growth, rising 0.3 points from a figure of 54.1 in May.