Recipe to restore manufacturing's status

Paul Grimwood, who was speaking at an event in York, said: "There is a growing world population and, in the longer term, potentially huge demand for whatever a manufacturer chooses to make.

"However, if the UK financial services sector has to shrink after the economic difficulties, manufacturing can fill the gap, they must realise that it will need a huge injection of capital, brain power and passion.

"That was the situation we faced in York in 2005 – if those conditions were not created, then there was the passion to do so in some Eastern European countries and the rest of the developing world.

"We made the right decision and we now have a 21st century site that remains an important part of the York economy."

Mr Grimwood is chairman and chief executive of the food giant's operations in the UK and Ireland. He made the comments at the second annual Business Leaders Forum in York, held on Wednesday at the Merchant Adventurers Hall and sponsored by HPH, Chartered Accountants.

The Yorkshireman added: "The trouble with manufacturing is that when it has gone, it has gone for ever. The current state of UK manufacturing is that it must innovate and renovate to fill the missing links.

"In our new facilities we emp-loy highly-skilled technicians and engineers who run state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment; sadly the vast majority of that equipment was not made in the UK.

"We do have the capability to manufacture state-of-the art machinery in UK but we need to improve links between univer-sities, science and technology firms and manufacturing to produce world-class products."