Leading up to the election, Chris Spray Customer Success Director at LineView was deeply concerned that UK election manifestos failed to address the crucial role of manufacturing in the economy with any certain clarity.
From his experience he knows the UK has an opportunity to be a global leader, especially in the FMCG, food and drink, and beer and whiskey sectors. This glaring omission represents a significant missed opportunity for the UK. The FMCG sector, along with food and drink manufacturing, contributes significantly to the UK’s GDP and export strength, and the UK’s rich heritage in beer and whiskey production is renowned worldwide, yet without strategic support and investment, the UK risk losing its competitive edge to international markets that are increasingly capitalising on these opportunities.
The Manufacturer asked him about why the lack of manufacturing in the manifestos was so concerning, what political leaders need to do to make a difference and why he believes it is time to prioritise the sectors that have long been the backbone of the UK economy.
MC: Can you explain why the omission of manufacturing in UK election manifestos is deeply concerning?
CS: The UK’s manufacturing sector has been in decline for decades and currently sits at just 10% of GDP compared with Germany at 18%. Without a comprehensive UK strategy, this decline will continue. We are becoming a low wage, low skill economy outside of London’s service economy and we have a massive skills and investment gap compared with all other major economies. We must stop the rot.
What specific economic risks does the UK face if strategic support and investment in these manufacturing sectors are not prioritised?
These are multifaceted – the UK growth problem has been highlighted by multiple governments.
Reduced economic growth or overreliance on a now globally mobile service sector is a fool’s game. Without strong manufacturing our export base will further decline adding to the balance of payment deficit – people can’t eat services – they buy stuff. The UK is renowned globally for innovation but without a coherent approach to manufacturing and growing industrial output, this will further be eroded.
Once we’ve lost manufacturing competence, it’s hard to replace it – there are already huge skills shortages exacerbated by Brexit and the Conservative government’s tough stance on immigration. Without a domestic manufacturing sector, the UK is more vulnerable to global supply chain disruption and at the whims of geopolitical events in an increasingly turbulent world. We have to build resilience.
New technologies are emerging at pace but without the right environment to grow and nurture them, the UK is in serious danger of missing the boat.
How can political leaders ensure that their policies are effectively supporting the growth and sustainability of these sectors?
We need coherent policies that address our current sick man of Europe status when it comes to manufacturing.
A coherent long-term strategy for manufacturing should focus on incentivising investment for R&D, providing tax breaks to attract global industry and build the infrastructure needed to support supply chain logistics and services requirements.
The government should invest in developing the right skills for industry. There is a massive requirement to reskill for the demands of Industry 4.0. For instance, data analytics and insights are going to be key global requirements in the coming years, as well as an understanding of 3D printing technologies.
The government could foster collaboration between education and industry to ensure the huge number of SMEs in the UK are provided with the right resources.
Brexit has put us on the back foot with global trade. We must renegotiate trade agreements at pace and aim for frictionless trade at least with our nearest neighbours.
Our innovative industries need to be protected with more robust IP laws, and regulation needs to be streamlined. The burden of red tape is crippling smaller businesses.
The government should be leading policy on sustainable manufacturing, positioning the UK at the forefront of the world when it comes to renewables and incentivising businesses to invest. This goes alongside the infrastructure arguments.
This cannot be achieved on a 5-year cycle – it needs to be a long-term plan, consistently applied through collaboration with stakeholders and data-driven decision making.
What steps can industry leaders and stakeholders take to engage with political leaders and advocate for the importance of manufacturing?
Policymakers need help in seeing the wood for the trees. Industry leaders must gather compelling data and put forward and tailor their messages to resonate with the priorities of political leaders and their constituents. We need to invite policymakers into our businesses, show them success stories, and help them build the political capital they need to win arguments.
In industry, we need to develop solutions and propositions that can be enacted at pace, well thought through with an easily understood narrative. National investment is by nature slow to progress but if industry can come together and help smooth these processes then this could accelerate change.
By informing a national long-term strategy and policy framework, industry can help build consensus and communicate a much stronger narrative.
We must be more on the front foot in educating the public and being more transparent in our endeavours. At the same time, we probably need support to make our messaging clearer in the way it is presented to policymakers.
We have to sit on more policy forums and be a trusted resource too – politicians need sound advice!
In what ways does manufacturing contribute to community development across the UK? And how critical is the manufacturing sector for job creation in the UK?
Manufacturing offers a great degree of diversity and resilience to an economy when done right.
Manufacturing tends to pay more compared with the service sector – creating a tax-paying middle class with disposable income, boosting local economies and businesses. This strengthens communities due to money circles around local economies.
Skills development in manufacturing delivers an incredibly diverse skillset from engineers to machinists, and production workers to managers. Manufacturing companies often invest in their people for the longer term as opposed to a gig-based economy.
Manufacturers often invest well into communities by sponsoring local events and supporting school initiatives and charities.
A thriving manufacturing sector pays tax, and tax on tax when money is spent in the local economy too. Manufacturing therefore creates a ripple effect through whole communities.
If a government wants to level up a London-centric economy, then manufacturing plays a key role in offering many regional-based opportunities that don’t require London infrastructure.
What specific policies do you recommend ensuring the prosperity and sustainability of the UK manufacturing sector?
The government needs a coherent long-term strategy that informs policy: It needs to encompass support for investing in innovation, infrastructure and skills to attract global players.
Specific policies could include:
- Encourage R&D through tax credits – especially in green energy and advanced manufacturing
- Foster industry expansion through networking and collaborating / knowledge-sharing
- Fund skills in the right sectors at the right levels – it should be ground up
- Creating pools of manufacturing experts that can provide solid resources and advice to growing sectors on productivity and scaling
- Green investment funding for industry
- Specific support and credit for exporters who experience long credit terms
- Focus support on high-end manufacturing sectors such as pharma, aerospace and automotive
- Strategic trade deals that focus on fair competition, environmental standards and intellectual property rights
- Create strong collaboration through trade councils and other bodies
- Focus procurement on sustainability as a key metric
- Work with educationalists and university research teams to help them keep pace with industry and incubate innovation faster through innovation hubs.
How can the UK ensure that it remains competitive in the global manufacturing landscape over the next decade?
We must up our game in embracing Industry 4.0 – automation, IOT, robotics and AI. These offer game changing productivity improvements, but only in the hands of a skilled workforce. AI needs controlling minds to conduct the orchestra of available technologies.
We must up our game in advanced manufacturing – we are falling further and further behind the competition. We must increase support for R&D and in incubating startups with a longer-term time horizon. We must invest in skills from the ground up – we have a lost generation in manufacturing.
We have to embrace digital transformation across the board to remain competitive and build back capability in lean manufacturing.
We must have sustained infrastructure investment especially in the north of the UK.
Investment must always be evaluated in the context of clean technologies and sustainability. Carbon reduction must be at the heart of it all.
We have to sign more trade deals and reduce trade friction. We have to collaborate more through trade bodies and ongoing consultation with the government.
Perhaps these measures will build back a proud brand for the UK that seems to have somewhat lost its shine as an engine of innovation in the world.
Chris is a trusted advisor and consultant to the world’s top FMCG, food, and beverage operations. Chris masterfully delivers knowledge and skills to accelerate change initiatives. Chris brings a unique approach to business leaders and operators, challenging them to think differently and act based on accurate data and facts.
Chris is a manufacturing and operations specialist with 30 years in global blue-chip organisations such as Coca-Cola European Partners and Britvic. Mr. Spray holds a B.Eng (Hons) in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bradford is the founder of Mind Over Mountains.
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