For the past two years, a programme has been helping to fill the void left by the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS). It’s impact assessment report – exclusively shared with The Manufacturer – has revealed the key areas where manufacturers are seeking support and guidance.
Since October 2016, the Manufacturing Growth Programme (funded by the European Regional Development Fund) has made almost 2,780 grants totalling more than £4m to UK SMEs.
Geared around supporting businesses to boost their performance, productivity and sales, the programme is delivered by Economic Growth Solutions, with grants used to help improve manufacturing processes, launch new products or access additional/new markets.
To date, the programme has helped create more than 2,100 jobs – with a further 700 positions expected to be created once current projects are completed.
Beneficiaries operate in a wide variety of sectors, from engineering and food and drink, to construction, textiles and medical, with an average turnover of between £1m – £5m.
The five key areas where support has been allocated are:
Marketing & Market Knowledge – 24%
Quality – 15%
Business Overview & Strategy – 14%
Systems & Procedures – 9%
Products, Services, Innovation & R&D – 7%
Family-owned Wye Valley Brewery, which produces approximately 10 million pints of beer every year, recently tapped into the Manufacturing Growth Programme to help it gain a better understanding of how to eliminate unnecessary energy expenditure.
With sustainability a growing area of focus for all businesses and energy costs rising year-on-year, the £10m turnover business felt it needed to review and identify ways to eliminate out of hours or non-productive energy consumption.
The action plan created is expected to generate an initial £4,000 saving in the first year Wye Valley Brewery.
Furthermore, the detailed information from the project is also expected to help the business to identify reductions in its current payment of the Climate Change Levy (CCL), as it can now verify energy consumption improvements made over a set time-period.
Manufacturing Leaders’ Summit 2018
For the past 10 years, Manufacturing Leaders’ Summit has been setting the boardroom agenda for the UK’s industrial business community – that’s why it has grown to become the country’s largest annual manufacturing conference.
This year, 1,000 senior decision-makers, business owners and chief executives will gather in Liverpool to benchmark their businesses, acquire new ideas and discuss real-world case studies of best practice.
10 conference streams featuring UK and international manufacturing success stories – and provide delegates with focused networking and learning opportunities:
Leadership | Finance | Export Excellence | Innovation | Future Factory |
Digital Transformation | Industrial Automation | Big Data | Talent Management | Supply Chain & Logistics
If you lead a team and want to benefit from the hard-won experience of other successful manufacturers – join in!
14-15 November | Exhibition Centre Liverpool – click here to secure your place.
