EEF, the manufacturers’ association, recently found that one in six companies has reshored production back to the UK in the past three years, up from one in seven in 2009.
The move by many firms to return to the UK has been criticised by experts, as wages in Asia, particularly, in China start to rise and not from any relationship with the UK or desire to employ British staff.
EEF Chief Executive, Terry Scuoler, said: “The trend may be gradual but is highly encouraging to see more re-shoring continuing.”
Examples of reshoring include Symington’s, a Leeds-based food manufacturer, which moved noodle production from Guangzhou back to Yorkshire, and Hornby, the maker of model rail sets, which recently returned the making of aircraft kits from India to East Sussex.
PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated earlier this year that reshoring could create around 100-200,000 extra jobs over the next decade in the UK, and boost annual national output by around £6-12b at today’s values (0.4-0.8% of GDP) by the mid-2020s.
