Why 'Buying British' can keep our country safe from rogue states - Greg Wright

It’s just the sort of reliable, UK-based company that should be hoovering up defence work to help keep our homeland secure and ensure we have a healthy pipeline of engineering talent. I was dismayed to discover that Alan Pickering, Unison’s managing director, has been driven to distraction by the Government’s procurement system.

He told me: “ Last year we lost a Government contract at a major UK defence shipyard to an inferior foreign competitor. We asked to see the score matrix in connection with this decision and they declined. We protested at the unfair process through our local MP and Government ministers but they were unable to help.

Mr Pickering added: “This is UK tax payers’ money, we should be supporting UK manufacturing not just buying on price which clearly happened in this instance.

“If we are ever to tackle our trade deficit, build our skills base, and be a leading manufacturing nation again, we need to have some built in loyalty to ‘team UK’ like the rest of Europe, especially if the best product is available in the UK.”

According to Mr Pickering, every pound spent in the UK is recycled many times. He fears our rival nations will continue to benefit if the current “weak” government guidance continues.

Bosses at Unison believe that big Government contractors should always be forced to explain why they don’t buy from British manufacturers.

To quote Mr Pickering: “The bigger picture is skills, once they are gone they are gone, then we can watch the foreign suppliers crank up the prices when the competition is eliminated.”

After wasting precious management time trying to secure a major contract, surely Unison is entitled to know why its bid was rejected?

The Ministry of Defence said it recognises the vital contribution the UK defence industry makes to the economy through jobs, skills, innovation and exports.

A spokesman said: “Latest figures show we spend more than £21bn annually with UK industry and commerce, including almost £1bn directly with Small and Medium-sized Enterprises. Large contracts without a specific exemption must publicly state the award criteria, including criteria weightings, scoring mechanism and the evaluation process.”

This response has failed to impress Mr Pickering. He believes that, as an absolute minimum, there must be a transparent scoring system for all suppliers and also an appeal process. Without this transparency, faith in the system which supports Britain’s defences is shaken.

The war in Ukraine has underlined the importance of investing in British companies which can provide long term, well paid jobs supporting the Ministry of Defence. When it comes to keeping our nation safe, “Buy British” is not a tired, stale phrase. It’s a call to action.

Greg Wright is the deputy business editor of The Yorkshire Post