Breakout 1: Signposts to Growth
Each of the three sessions will each involve several short specialist presentations from manufacturers and experts to provide a rounded view of the options and alternative strategic approaches to growth. The sessions also allow more time than the other streams for question and answer sessions to allow delegates to expand on the themes raised.
Overseas Growth
With traditional export markets becoming stagnant, emerging markets represent the bulk in opportunities for UK manufacturing. This session will focus on manufacturers who have broken into new markets, the strategies they have engaged in and the funding, advice and guidance available to UK manufacturers with international growth intentions. Whether you are new to exporting or looking to expand a well established range of global markets, this session will be of benefit to you.
Chair: David Hutchinson, Managing Director, AlixPartners
David has worked for clients in a wide range of manufacturing sectors globally, including specialty chemicals, food and
FMCG products, packaging and industrial products. Prior to joining AlixPartners, David spent 11 years in operations
management with ICI and Zeneca, and six years with consultants A.T. Kearney.
Christopher E Dodson OBE, Chairman of Mortimer Technology and Torftech Group
Presentation: A summary of the advantages of technology licensing and how to use licensing to accelerate export growth
- the basics of licensing of technology and its use in export business development, and
- a summary of the advantages of licensing, and
- pitfalls that must be avoided.
The presentation concentrates on the commercial aspects of the route to growth, not the legal structures.
Chris Dodson is a mechanical engineer and inventor with many years experience in commercial technology development
for industry. His work has focused particularly in industries related to heavy energy consumption and also renewable
energy. This presentation will cover the basics relating to the licensing of technology and its use in export business
development. It will provide a summary of the advantages of licensing balanced against the pitfalls that must be avoided.
The presentation concentrates on the commercial aspects of the route to growth, not the legal structures.
Brian M Stringer, Chief Operating Officer, Survitec
Presentation: Survitec Group: Growing on Export
A brief presentation on how the Survitec Group has continued to grow its business in the most difficult economic climate by utilizing overseas opportunities. The presentation will share a few thoughts on how Survitec has strategically and tactically used various levers to target past missed opportunities in order to continue the impressive sales and profit growth over the last four years. Growing from the core competencies and moving into adjacent markets and products will be touched on as ways to help combat shrinking home markets.
The presentation concentrates on the commercial aspects of the route to growth, not the legal structures.This presentation will illustrate how the Survitec Group has continued to grow its business in the most difficult economic climate by utilizing overseas opportunities. The presentation will share a few thoughts on how Survitec has strategically and tactically used various levers to target past missed opportunities in order to continue the impressive sales and profit growth over the last four years. Growing from the core competencies and moving into adjacent markets and products will be highlighted as ways to help combat shrinking home markets.
Mark Ling, Head of Trade & Supply Chain Finance, RBS
Presentation: Trade Finance & Supply Chain Finance its role in Supporting Overseas Growth
The opportunities for international trade are growing and UK companies are increasingly taking advantage. RBS research shows that two-thirds of UK businesses feel now is a good time to further develop their overseas trading activity. But there are challenges. International trade - particularly with newer, emerging markets - can present regulatory, financial and cultural barriers.
Asia is the most populous and fastest growing economic region in the world. The most rapid economic growth has been seen in China, India and the 'ASEAN-5' of Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines2. Join Mark Ling, Head of Trade Finance, Corporate & Institutional Banking at RBS to hear more about the latest developments and opportunities that Asia presents and things to consider in planning a foothold or expansion into the market.
Mark joined RBS in 2002 and has held a number of roles leading Trade & Cash Management origination teams across the Bank's Corporate, Institutional and Commercial banking segments.
His previous background was as an International Banker working for Standard Chartered Bank across the UK and Asia in a variety of different roles covering Relationship Management, Portfolio Management and Product Management.
Mark has a career long interest in Trade Finance and has been involved heavily in the development of Supply Chain Financing techniques over the last decade.
Investment For Growth
This breakout session will explore the range of financing options available to UK manufacturers and explores grant opportunities to enable business growth. With tight credit conditions becoming the norm, the session will identify alternative finance tools with examples of flexible investment opportunities.
Breakout chair: Jan Ward, CEO and founder, Corrotherm International Ltd
Jan Ward is a mechanical engineer with over 30 years experience in the metals industry, specialising in the metallurgy
of high alloy metals for the oil, gas, power and petrochemical sectors. Jan founded Corrotherm International Ltd, a
company that specialises in supplying high alloys to niche markets in Middle East and Africa. Corrotherm has offices
in UK, Iran, the UAE, South Africa, Libya and Saudi Arabia.
Mark Bryant, Director, Business Growth Fund PLC
Presentation: Financing your Business for Growth: BGF a new source of funding for SME's
The presentation will cover financing options available to privately owned businesses, considering both the perspective of the entrepreneur and the investors. A deeper explanation of growth capital and the role of BGF. Finally outlining what companies should consider before looking to raise finance.
Mark has had 30 years experience in manufacturing, primarily as the managing director/CEO of a number of manufacturing
companies which include Pressurements Ltd, Druck Holdings Plc and General Electric, manufacturing a range of
instrumentation and sensors covering sectors from aerospace, automotive, oil & gas to test and metrology. Other
companies include M&H Plastic - a manufacturer of rigid plastic packaging for the personal care market.
Roy Bawden, Senior Director, Manufacturing & Industrials, RBS Corproate Banking
Presentation: Investing for Growth: What are my options and how do I go about it?
- How do I get started? Preparing yourself; preparing others. The importance of laying the ground.
- Obtaining best engagement of the bank and other advisors.
- Finding the right funding structure.
- What if things do not go to plan?
- Securing the benefits going forward
Based in the Manufacturing and Industrials team, Roy focuses on working with UK manufacturers, maintaining relationships with clients who operate in this field as well as engaging regularly with external partners who serve this sector. He is a regular contributor to sector related publications and events including most recently the Grant Thornton report, which focused on investing in the food manufacturing sector.
Jonathan Duck, CEO, Amtico
Presentation: Finance for Growth: a Manufacturing Management Buyout
Jonathan will describe the financing used in a primary and secondary management buyout (MBO), including the process of raising and financing, resulting covenants, and then operating with investors in a highly leveraged capital structure. Attendees should gain an appreciation of how this type of finance works in practise, including some of the "dos and don'ts". This might be useful if they are ever thinking of getting involved in an MBO themselves.
Jonathan is CEO of Amtico, a Coventry and Atlanta based, export led, flooring manufacturer. He joined Amtico in 2003, investing in an earlier MBO that needed fixing, and then led a secondary management buyout in 2006, which was sold to a US trade buyer in March 2012.
Jonathan started as an engineer with UKAEA Harwell. He was then a management consultant with Boston Consulting Group and McKinsey, a Divisional Director within Bass Plc running various drinks, gaming and retailing business units, and the CEO of Access Self Storage, a private equity backed property company.
He has MA and MEng degrees from Cambridge and an MBA from Harvard Business School, where he was a Harkness Fellow.
Mark Evans, Manufacturing Director, R&D Tax Claims Ltd
Presentation: R&D Tax Relief: To Claim or not to Claim
Thousands of pounds in corporation tax go unclaimed every year by UK SMEs. Mark Evans of R&D Tax Claims Ltd demystifies the process and shows how a refund can be achieved simply and quickly
In the UK, there is annually around £5 billion worth of unclaimed R&D tax relief. The Government backed R&D Tax Relief Schemes allow UK companies involved in Research and Development to claim back corporation tax on money spent on developing and/or improving their products and processes. Around 150,000 eligible UK SMEs could benefit from the scheme, but less than 10,000 actually make a claim, often because they don't know how to, or consider that what they do would not be considered as R&D. Mark Evans sets out to demystify the process.
R&D Tax Claims Ltd was founded in January 2012 by managing director Mark Evans. Mark, a qualified chartered accountant for 27 years, has specialised in R&D Tax Relief for over four years. Since April 2009, he has helped UK companies make savings of almost £8 million in tax. The company enjoys an excellent reputation with HMRC and has a 100% success rate in helping clients claim back R&D tax credits by providing a thoroughly researched and detailed case with each claim.
WorkForce For Growth
For UK manufacturers, attracting, retaining and developing the best talent from shop-floor to the boardroom is a key business challenge to support business growth. This session will hear from key groups tackling this workforce challenge, but also from UK manufacturers who have undertaken the initiative and created their own solutions to skills challenges.
Chair: Allan Cook CBE, Chairman, Semta, Atkins and SELEX Galileo, Deputy Chairman, Marshalls Group
Allan is a chartered engineer with more than 30 years of international experience in the automotive, aerospace
and defence industries. He was chief executive of Cobham PLC until the end of December 2009. Prior to this he
held senior roles at GEC-Marconi, BAE Systems and Hughes Aircraft. He is chairman of SELEX Galileo Ltd, deputy
chairman of Marshall of Cambridge (Holdings) Limited and a member of the operating executive board of J.F. Lehman
& Company. He is also chairman of the Skills & Jobs Retention Group, chairman of UK Trade & Investment’s Advanced
Engineering Sector Advisory Board and chairman of the Sector Skills Council for Science, Engineering and Manufacturing
Technologies (SEMTA).
Tom Crotty, Director, INEOS Group
Presentation: Developing skills to meet industry needs: The Engineer of the Future Programme
When INEOS bought the Grangemouth site from BP in 2006, one of the first actions was to move the Senior Site manager from the excellent Cologne facility to Scotland to upgrade the performance of the site. One of the issues that he identified very early on was the sharp distinction within the UK system between vocational apprentices and graduate engineers, creating a situation where too many graduate engineers lacked the 'hands on' experience of running a chemical plant. This is in sharp contrast to the German model where the edges between vocational and academic training are much more blurred. In order to develop the fully rounded engineers that INEOS needs, we developed the Engineer of the Future programme in partnership with Forth Valley College and Herriot Watt University. This award winning programme is a 5 year course which takes recruits through an initial 2 year accelerated apprenticeship, followed by a 3 year engineering degree course. With financial support from the Scottish Government, the programme, now in its fourth year is proving both popular and successful. Tom will explain the reasoning behind the development and INEOS's plans for the future.
Tom is a director of INEOS with responsibility for Corporate Affairs and Communications and the development of INEOS
business in new territories. Following a 20 year career with Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI), he came into INEOS in
January 2001 as CEO of INEOS Fluor. He subsequently became CEO of INEOS ChlorVinyls and then of INEOS Olefins & Polymers
Europe. Tom is currently president of the European Petrochemicals Association (EPCA), vice president of Plastics Europe,
chairman of Cogent, the UK Sector Skills Council for the Process Industries, and sits on the CBI’s Climate Change Board.
Vincent Middleton, Chairman, Newburgh Engineering
Presentation: Apprenticeships Resolved: Developing Engineering Skills for the Manufacturing Industry
A few years ago a group of local employers in South Yorkshire decided to take action and change the training landscape in their region to put an end to the skills shortages they have been suffering for a long time. Having realised the deplorable state in which apprenticeships were in their region, they worked together with local schools, colleges and councils and many other organisations to drive a sustainable future for apprenticeship training in the region. This led to the creation of the New ERA Training scheme and the launching of new training facilities such as the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Institute. The aim is to satisfy the demand for future employees by creating both the quality and quantum of regional training provision, and to act as guidance to that process. This training schedule is guided by participating companies and involves the provision of work placement. It has served to drive forward economic growth in the region encouraging manufacturing companies to employ young people with the confidence that they are receiving the world class skills training their employers require to compete in today's highly competitive economy.
Vincent will explain how this initiative was developed and will show how manufacturers working together can ensure that they have the skilled workforce they need.
Andrew Esson, Managing Director, Quick Hydraulics
Presentation: Skills for Growth: A View From The North East
The manufacturing sector in the North East has suffered in recent years from a skills shortage creating a pinch point in the growth prospects of North East manufacturers. Andrew Esson, Managing Director of Quick Hydraulics, and also a member of the EEF North East Skills Group, will present his experiences, gained within two companies, of tackling this skills shortage by including a proactive approach to skills development as a core part of a strategy for growth within a traditional manufacturing environment. Andrew will demonstrate that there is a direct correlation between skills investment and business growth, when this is approached as a strategic issue.
Lewi Griffiths, Commercial Director, Pera
Presentation: Resourcing Growth: the need for rapid up-skilling
Using a recent high profile automotive manufacturing case study this presentation will explore how workplace based rapid up-skilling is used to maximize productive learning time and reduced time to competence. It will describe how you can practically, effectively and directly address the skills gap in a dynamic growth environment and will explore the innovative techniques and flexible approaches that can be employed. Emphasis will be placed on how to reduce costs, improve quality and increase return on investment whilst minimizing disruption. The presentation will appeal to Manufacturing Directors with skills shortfalls that have the potential to impact productivity and growth.
Lewi's recent focus has been on building strategic partnerships and generating collaborative projects for large scale
work based learning programmes. Lewi is also heavily involved in influencing government policy on structure and funding
for vocational skills development. He is an Engineering Graduate of the University of Exeter and holder of the
Associateship of the Camborne School of Mines.