Flying the flag for manufacturing as sector hit by a new blow

The Made By Britain project seemed like a good idea.

Spearheaded by Huddersfield MP Barry Sheerman, politicans were asked to pick their favourite example of British manufacturing. The aim was to show that contrary to popular belief, the country is still a hub of manufacturing and a world leader when it comes to great ideas.

However, the choices of the first 40 MPs – which so far range from Youngs Fish Fingers to Rolls Royce technology – were published just 24 hours after staff at Bombardier, the last train-making company in the country, were told they face redundancy.

Having recently missed out on the £1.4bn Thameslink contract to German group Siemens, the Derby plant has announced 1,400 jobs will likely go. While the Government has insisted Siemens represented the best value for money and claims EU procurement rules prevented it favouring a UK bid, the news represented another blow for the country’s manufacturing base.

Against that backdrop, championing the custard cream (John Stevenson, Conservative MP for Carlisle) or the Flight Caddy, an innovative golf club case (Mary Glindon, Labour MP for North Tyneside) seems a little like clutching at straws.

Not so, says Mr Sheerman, who hopes the project, which will ultimately include the suggestions of all 610 MPs, will be an online answer to the Great Exhibition of 1851 and proof that while Britain may no longer be a manufacturing giant, it still has a place on the world stage.

Made By Britain is being developed by the Associate Parliamentary Manufacturing Group and the 1851 Royal Commission, whose members were instructed to remain in post following the Crystal Palace event to help British industry become more competitive.

“Today we are operating in a very different world,” acknowledges a Commission spokesman. “But manufacturing still employs 2.6m people and contributes more to the economy than financial services, generating 11 per cent of GDP.

“Showcasing what we do well is an important part of supporting manufacturing and we hope this project will do just that, as well as engaging the country’s top policymakers on the issues that manufacturers face.”

Yet for all the enthusiasm of the Commission and of Mr Sheerman, the last decade has been a tough one for British companies, with iconic names from Doc Marten to Dyson all shipping production abroad and many more are considering following suit, with many citing the UK’s tax laws as the reason.

And it’s not just companies which have been lured overseas to satisfy their bottom line. Research earlier this month showed more than one in four workers in the UK would move abroad, not only for a better job, but also to escape the high cost of living and static wages.

“Even if only a fraction of these people actually moved abroad, UK businesses will face a loss of talent just at the time when they most need it,” said Sukhi Ghatoare, from the research group GfK, which carried out the study. It’s a situation only too apparent to those facing an uncertain future at Bombardier.

As one worker put it, “It’s quiet, it looks like they’ve taken the heartbeat out of the guys as well as the industry.”

Unfortunately it may take more than Mr Sheerman’s best efforts to give British manufacturing the shot in the arm it really needs.