Sharing the top position with the IT and telecoms sectors, the manufacturing sector came joint first in a survey of UK millionaires and the source of their personal wealth.
Southampton-based investment specialist Skandia surveyed 436 UK-based millionaires in January this year, and found that around 21% of those surveyed made their fortune from working in manufacturing, the IT sector or telecoms, with 18% and 17% benefiting from working in finance and the service industry respectively.
A discovery from the survey regarding UK manufacturing was that 29% of the respondents started their own business, with 31% of this percentage gaining millionaire status from their manufacturing company. This is compared to 26% achieving similar levels of wealth by setting up their own IT or telecoms firm.
Skandia’s head of investment strategy, Graham Bentley praised Chancellor George Osborne’s Budget proposal to provide enterprise loans to help young people set up and grow their own business: “Over half of the entrepreneurs in our survey started their businesses before they were 25 years old and almost two thirds made their wealth within 10 years.”
He went on to say: “There are real benefits to providing enterprising young people with the means to get a business idea up and running. How this scheme is structured will be crucial though: modelling it on the student loan won’t work.”
An article in the comment section of the Observer over the weekend called for greater attention to be paid to the teaching of computer programming and coding in schools in order to reduce reliance on relatively unpredictable banking and financial sectors.
Praise has been heaped upon the Government for its commitment to providing young people with better career opportunities by business leaders and organisations, but it has most recently come under fire for not being in tune with the electorate – in particular the most vulnerable in society.
