London — British businesses grew at the fastest rate in more than two years in the three months to February, despite uncertainty about Britain’s prospects as it prepares to leave the EU, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said on Sunday. The CBI’s monthly growth indicator — based on surveys of how much businesses’ output has changed over the previous three months — more than doubled to +20 in February from +9 in January, reaching its highest since December 2015. Growth was far above the long-run average across most sectors other than retail, the CBI said. The weak pound and healthy global growth propelled manufacturing output, while business and professional services grew at their fastest pace since August 2015. "It’s good to see firm growth in the UK economy this month, and expectations of growth into the next quarter also look positive," CBI chief economist Rain Newton-Smith said. "However, both businesses and consumers continue to grapple with uncertainty over the econom...
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