The focus of this research was on the high technology manufacturing sector, where the rate and extent of change in the firm environment are extremely high. The main aim of the project was to take a contingency theory perspective in linking manufacturing strategy to firms' overall strategy, in the context of changing environmental conditions. This dataset is the result of the response to a postal survey received from 205 high technology manufacturing firms in the UK. The survey covered: general characteristics and objectives of the business, management organisation, business environment, innovation and technological change, manufacturing production and competitive capabilities, principal products and market competition, and significant changes affecting their business in the last three years. The data file includes 274 variables.