ANNUAL MANUFACTURING REPORT 2016

ECONOMY, POLICY & GROWTH
ANNUAL
MANUFACTURING
REPORT2016
10
11
Has your company had contact with any of the following
agencies or organisations? (Mark as many as apply)
UK Trade & Investment
Manufacturing Advisory Service
EEF
Chambers of Commerce
The Carbon Trust
Innovate UK (Technology Strategy Board)
“Catapults”/Technology Innovation Centres
Local Enterprise Partnerships (previously:
Regional Development Agencies
Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
UK Export finance
Business Growth Fund
Learning and Skills Council
Semta
Warwick Manufacturing Group
2012 2013
2014 2015
How useful did you find your contact with those agencies
(please respond for all that apply)?
UK Trade & Investment
Manufacturing Advisory Service
EEF
Chambers of Commerce
The Carbon Trust
Innovate UK (Technology Strategy Board)
“Catapults”/Technology Innovation Centres
Local Enterprise Partnerships (previously:
Regional Development Agencies
Confederation of British Industry (CBI)
UK Export finance
Business Growth Fund
Learning and Skills Council
Semta
Warwick Manufacturing Group
0%
0%
20% 40%
20%
40%
60%
60% 80%
80%
Useful 2012 Useful 2013 Useful 2014 Useful 2015
100%
Once again, we presented respondents with
a list of agencies and asked if they had had
contact with them. The “Yes” column was
headed by UKTI (UK Trade & Investment),
which would seem to indicate interest in
boosting business overseas. The total level of
response is slightly up on last year, at 65%.
Mentions of the Manufacturing Advisory
Service (MAS), EEF and Chamber of
Commerce all fell back this year, from the
mid-50s to 46, 44 and 40%, respectively. In
fact, the response rate to every agency
declined, with the exceptions of UKTI and UK
Export Finance.
Those mentioning interaction with Local
Enterprise Partnerships fell from just over 50%
to less than 39%. Technology catapults are
down, from 24% to 15%; and Innovate UK/
Technology Strategy Board from 32% to
25%. The skills shortage makes the decline in
interaction with Semta (sector skills agency
for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing
Technologies Agency) from 17% to 12%
appear curious. The Learning and Skills
Council also showed a decline but this is
less surprising, as it was formally abolished
in 2010. Its activities in funding training in
Further Education and for manufacturing
and engineering were taken over by the
Skills Funding Agency. The number reporting
experience with the Warwick Manufacturing
Group fell by over half, from nearly one in five
(19%) to less than one in twelve (8%).
We can only speculate why these falls in
interaction with technical and support
organisations have occurred; we did not ask
for comments.
Three other agencies were also mentioned:
the Energy Industries Council; the Welsh
Assembly (which has taken over from the
Welsh Development Agency – point taken!)
and Business Growth Accelerator.
Were these agencies useful to those who
accessed their services? The answer is
overwhelmingly (but not unanimously): yes. In
the case of UKTI and UK Export Finance, the
‘yeas’ outnumbered the ‘nays’ by more than
six to one. EEF, Chamber of Commerce and
‘Catapults’ were rated positive by between
four and five to one, and Business Growth
Fund and CBI by more than three to one.
Others still in positive territory but who should
maybe review their effectiveness include MAS,
with a positive rating below 3:1; and Carbon
Trust and Technology Strategy Board/Innovate
UK (2:1). It looks like the Local Enterprise
Partnerships need to put in some work, as
their rating is less than 2:1 in favour and
Semta actually fell into negative territory. The
Warwick Manufacturing Group broke even.