A new report from the EEF has suggested a need for greater government involvement in assisting the UK manufacturing industry to become more prosperous.
The Manufacturers’ Organisation’s (EEF) report titled, ‘Manufacturing Our Future’ has proposed some ambitious targets which, in this current economic climate, may prove unrealistic.
Included in the EEF suggestions is the establishment of a new government committee designed to assist the manufacturing sector, greater government expenditure support for UK manufacturers, the re-establishment of an ‘Industrial Bank’ and the offering of a £1 billion prize for innovation in the commercialisation of low carbon technologies.
EEF Chief Executive, Gilbert Toppin, said: ‘Manufacturing must play a bigger role in our economy if we are to meet the challenges facing us over the next decade. It can be a major player in addressing climate change and meeting our demographic and security challenges as well as helping to claw back the twin deficits in the public sector and on trade.
“But this will only happen if our manufacturers show the ambition and make the investments needed to achieve this and the government sets out a framework that gives them the confidence to do it. In particular, the government must set out its priorities for the technologies and markets we need to develop and the steps it will take to help the UK succeed in them.”
Tim Brown
