The ERA Foundation has studied the factors needed to ensure that UK manufacturing can take its necessary place at the heart of a well-balanced economy. Successive government administrations over the past 25 years have promoted the UK as a “post- industrial economy based on financial and business services”.

The resulting over-reliance on financial services has left the UK with an economy which is seriously out of balance. What remains of UK manufacturing is of very good quality; there is just not enough of it. The Coalition Government has been seeking to rebalance the economy, and respect for manufacturing has been restored. But Government respect has yet to be matched by bold actions sufficient to return UK manufacturing capability towards 20% of GDP (from its current 11%) and to see the trade gap closed by the working of a balanced economy.