Buyers Guide 2021

News 10 | Plant & Works Engineering www.pwemag.co.uk Annual Buyers’ Guide 2021 Digital industrialisation could be worth as much as £455 billion to Britain’s economy over the next decade, and could turn the UK, and the Midlands in particular, into a science superpower. This is according to a new report by the Midlands Manufacturing Resilience Commission (M2R), Manufacturing Confidence, which shows Britain will become a world leader in innovation if it embraces digital manufacturing. The research finds digital industrialisation could be worth as much as £455 billion to Britain’s manufacturers over the next decade. In addition, the UK manufacturing sector could grow up to 3% a year and create 175,000 new jobs if the country’s industry embraces emerging technologies. However the country is failing to capitalise on this opportunity. As manufacturing becomes increasingly automated, the UK trails behind other European nations in deploying the technology needed to increase the nation’s productivity and compete in the global marketplace. For instance, it takes a UK worker 40 hours to produce the same output a German counterpart would produce in three-quarters of that time, partly because there are four times more robots in a German production line. Due to its ideal geographic location and its industrial experience, the Midlands has the potential to become the UK’s manufacturing ‘engine’. In recent years, the region’s tech ecosystem has been growing. In Birmingham alone, more than 20% of total employment comes from tech jobs. In order to build on this and secure prosperity for the region, more public sector support is required. The report introduces a roadmap of concrete steps the Government can take to build manufacturing resilience in the Midlands and the UK as a whole. These include: Match private sector investment in the Midlands at the same levels it does for the rest of the UK Address the fragmented support for manufacturing across the Midlands Provide financial protection for SMEs to take on bigger challenges to move from start-up to scale-up through an improved growth capital programme: a Midlands Equity Fund Establish a Gigafactory in the Midlands, drawing from our local supply chain as part of the levelling up agenda Create SME clusters in the region, creating supply chains for emerging markets and help SMEs pivot away from markets in decline Create an internship programme for graduates into SMEs to provide: Bandwidth for SME leadership to be strategic as well as operational Vital industrial experience for graduates at a time when employment opportunities are scarce The chair of the Midlands Manufacturing Commission, Dr Clive Hickman concluded: “The Midlands can become the UK’s industrial engine but only if we get proper investment in the manufacturing sector. By embracing emerging technologies and equipping people with the right skills, we can improve our productivity and provide prosperity for the Midlands and UK as a whole.” Last month’s Spending Review was delivered against a truly unprecedented backdrop with the worst fall in economic output since the statistics were first collected 300 years ago. In view of this Industry would have had little expectation in the face of a realistic statement which laid bare the immense challenges the Chancellor and the economy faces in the near term. In the face of these it is absolutely right that the priority must be to protect jobs, whilst trying to create opportunities for young people whose futures have been left badly scarred. Equally, it is vital to put in place the foundations now for how we rebuild our economy. In the light of this the Chancellor did his best to address this difficult balancing act with a package of measures designed to get boots and shovels on the ground, especially the National Infrastructure Bank and Levelling up Fund to boost growth in those Regions which have been hardest hit. The statement also contained some other positive measures in the extension of the incentive to recruit Apprentices and the continuation of the Kickstart scheme. There was also a boost to R&D funding which will be important if the UK loses EU funding, whilst the Treasury has also recently announced an extension of the benefits from investment allowances. Despite these measures, however, we believe there remains a case to also put in place consistent, longer-term sector specific support that mirrors our international competitors. Key strategic sectors, in particular aerospace and automotive, employ substantial numbers of high value, well paid jobs in areas of the country that are essential to the levelling up and re-balancing of our economy. They are advanced technology companies whose skills will be vital in developing the green and digital futures which will help solve many of the societal challenges we face. To ensure they are at the vanguard of this new economy, it’s vital their futures are secured with short term support now and we will continue to campaign for measures. By MAKE UK chief executive, Stephen Phipson MAKE uk - the manufacturers’ organisation monthly news comment UK poised to be a world leader in innovation