EEF has announced that its chief executive, Terry Scuoler, will be stepping down at the end of the year.
Now entering his eighth year as head of Britain’s leading manufacturing trade organisation, Terry Scuoler (66) will reportedly remain in place until the end of 2017 to allow EEF time to appoint his successor.
A former army officer, Scuoler was managing director of aviation electronics business Ferranti Technologies, where he also served on the EEF regional board in the North West, before being appointed chief executive of EEF in 2010.
Terry & TM
For more than five years, Scuoler has been writing a monthly column for The Manufacturer, covering topics as diverse as access to finance, sustainability, R&D tax credits, infrastructure and industrial strategy.
In an interview with The Manufacturer in 2010, he was described as being “made of the right stuff to lead the UK’s main manufacturers’ organisation. In that interview, Scuoler stated that he regards manufacturing as “the great organ for growth” and highlighted the three key beliefs which have steered his tenure in the years since: lobbying government for a simpler tax system, widening EEF membership to pro-manufacturing service companies, and a focus on support for investment.
The softly-spoken but direct Scotsman has led the organisation through a major change programme, building the group’s representation work in the UK and Europe and, significantly strengthening the business services provided by the group to manufacturers and other businesses.
As chief executive, he also led the sector’s response to recovering from the economic challenges following the crash of 2007/8 and, more recently, he represented manufacturing interests in the lead up to the EU referendum and subsequent Brexit debate. He was also a significant supporter of the campaign to keep Scotland in the union during the referendum of 2014.
In 2014 he was elected chairman of the European manufacturers’ organisation CEEMET, which represents more than 200,000 manufacturing businesses across the EU and has worked hard to try and secure European business leaders’ support for a smooth Brexit and ongoing trade agreement.
EEF chair and member of The Manufacturer Top 100 judging panel, Dame Judith Hackitt commented: “Terry will be an extremely difficult act to follow. His strong and successful leadership of EEF and the sector is widely recognised and appreciated and reflects his deep-seated commitment to British manufacturing. We know that Terry will continue to lead EEF with that same enthusiasm as the search for his replacement proceeds.”