ENGINEERED IN BRITAIN MANUFACTURING A SUCCESSFUL ECONOMY?

Tom Lawton
Head of Manufacturing
BDO LLP
As always, the Engineered in Britain research
provides a rich source of information on the
views of manufacturers and the public on the
state of UK manufa cturing. I hope you enjoy
the report and that it provides either support
or challenge to your views on key issues in
the sector.
I have not attempted a comprehensive critique of
the results in this overview but focus on findings
that I thought were particularly interesting.
One big challenge facing us at the moment is the
need for European reform. The findings show
that 62% of manufacturers and 58% of the public
believe that uncertainty about the UK’s position
in the EU is having a negative effect on UK
manufacturing. The survey also shows that 58%
of manufacturers and 47% of the public feel that
the UK remaining in the EU with renegotiated
terms is the best option for UK manufacturing,
with 32% of manufacturers and 26% of the
public feeling that staying in the EU with no
change is the best option.
What is not clear, however, is what happens
if the terms of membership are not able to be
renegotiated – would manufacturers move to the
‘stay in’ or ‘leave’ camp?
I remain of the view that continued uncertainty
is not helpful to UK manufacturing and an
early vote would be useful. I also believe that,
in world of increasingly large economic power
blocks and alliances, leaving our largest trading
markets – and what is still our largest export
zone – would seem a risky step to take.
Despite this, a third of manufacturers believe
the government is performing well in terms of
its education and skills policy. Unfortunately, we
believe that the skills crisis is likely to worsen
as more automation and digitisation is required
for UK manufacturing to remain competitive.
It is far from clear that the ‘strategic approach’
to education and skills in this country is being
changed or responding fast enough to provide
the skills necessary in the next five, ten and
15 years.
Finally, question 20 delivers some very
interesting results about the UK’s infrastructure,
with electricity generation, rail network,
and road infrastructure being identified as
key weaknesses for more than half of all
manufacturers. All I would say is that it is
difficult to address such fundamental and
long-term challenges without a long-term
industrial policy that avoids the disruptions of
political cycles. The government should match
manufacturers’ long-term outlook by looking
15–20 years ahead to plan an industrial policy,
avoiding the disruptions of the political cycle.
The programme must be steered by a dedicated
manufacturing minister, able to focus on firms’
needs in a way that will benefit us all.
BDO is again delighted to partner with the
Institution of Mechanical Engineers in producing
this research, which we hope will be a valuable
addition to the UK manufacturing debate.
Fears of the impact of the skills crisis remain
high. More than half of manufacturers think
that the lack of skilled people is the biggest
danger to UK manufacturing, far ahead of global
competition at only 25%. Our findings also show
that three quarters (77%) of manufacturers
feel that the skills gap has a negative effect on
investment in UK manufacturing.
imeche.org/engineeredinbritain
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