LONDON—Surging new orders before an easing of COVID-19 lockdown restrictions has prompted a stronger rebound for British companies than expected this month, although price pressures are rising sharply, too, a business survey showed on Wednesday. The flash IHS Markit/CIPS UK Composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to a seven-month high of 56.6 in March from 49.6 in February. A Reuters poll of economists had forecast a reading of 51.1. Britain’s economy shrank by 10 percent last year—its sharpest decline in more than 300 years—and earlier this month government budget forecasters predicted it would take until the middle of next year before it regains its pre-pandemic size. But confidence among British businesses had been bolstered by Britain’s swift roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, one factor behind the first increase in employment since the start of the pandemic, the survey showed. Services in Britain enjoyed a rapid recovery, in contrast to those in …