British manufacturing leader, Michael Oliver OBE, has launched an e-petition seeking the establishment of a 10p tax relief on every £1 worth of UK manufactured goods being exported.
Mr Oliver, who founded the specialist valve manufacturing company, Oliver Valves in 1979, said he believes such a tax relief would encourage a flurry of export activity and bring consensus behind the idea that industrial and economic recovery should be led by UK exports.
A recent report from Siemens showed that manufacturers themselves are divided in the belief that exports should be a part of their future strategy. The report revealed that 69% of those surveyed indentified growth in domestic demand as being a more important factor in sales volumes than foreign demand.
Oliver told business publication Management Today that government has so far failed to convince industry of its conviction in this regard or create a framework which supports UK manufacturers seeking new markets. Government spends a lot of time giving “bold speeches delivered in tractor factories’, said Oliver but “their words have delivered nothing in the way of tangible change.”
He added: ‘By exporting our way out of recession, manufacturers and their employees will pay more tax as they grow, helping boost the Chancellor’s coffers.”
Oliver needs 100,000 signatures for the e-petition, which is being hosted on the Direct Gov website, before his concept is accepted for debate in the House of Commons.
You can add you signature to the petition by clicking here.
