Bernard Ginns: Manufacturers can lead the next industrial revolution

There is great cause for optimism in the manufacturing sector. And it’s not only me saying that. Andrew Peters, a director at Siemens Drive Technologies, told the audience at City Hall that “UK manufacturing is about to take a great leap forward”.

According to Mr Peters, the reasons for this are as follows: there is a huge amount of innovation in this country and the UK has superbly talented engineers who can take an innovative idea and develop it into something amazing.

He sees four megatrends which are changing the world. They are urbanisation, globalisation, demographic change and climate change; each presents opportunities to the UK.

There are six key innovations that he claims are “spearheading the next industrial revolution”. These are rapid prototyping, or 3D printing, near net shape manufacturing, software integration, contoured steels, digital factory design and infrastructure. “The road to new markets is innovation,” said Mr Peters.

Speaking to me afterwards, he added a note of caution on the need to take a long-term view.

A few years ago he was in China on behalf of his German employer and he was negotiating on a contract. His expectation on length was for two, three years or thereabouts. The Chinese asked for 50 years.

Mr Peters said: “It was a moment of truth for me. If you are really strategic, you need to be thinking long term.”

He’s dead right. The Foreign Office minister Jeremy Browne did not gloss over the enormous challenge that the UK faces when he delivered the festival’s keynote speech last Thursday.

He warned that millions and millions of Britons will struggle to make a living in the future unless the Government, the public and businesses make fundamental changes to ensure future prosperity. “The least risky option is to change. The most dangerous thing we could do is to pretend we don’t need to do anything when the competition is so ferocious and fast moving,” he said.

Big structural challenges like these require big structural solutions.

Greater commercialisation of university research to harness the creativity and innovation in our world-leading academic institutions and more incentives to increase investment in manufacturing would be a start.

The biggest solution though would be a long-term strategic approach to manufacturing. In many ways, our political system conspires against a long-term view with its short-term and often cynical outlook.

Proper political consensus on industrial strategy would fix this.

Take the renewables industry as an example. The country with the most advanced renewables industry is Denmark. Its politicians argue on everything apart from renewables policy, on which they agree. Consequently, the country is a world leader in renewables.

We have the basis of political consensus in this country through the alliance of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats in the coalition Government. Would it be too much to find common ground with Labour and give our manufacturers the chance to realise their stunning potential?

I love English seaside resorts. The salty sea air, the faded Victoriana, the calming sea view.

So I was delighted to accept the Federation of Small Businesses’ invitation to its annual conference. But come Saturday morning and North Yorkshire was shrouded in a deep fog. Two hours’ driving later and I’d arrived at the Spa Complex, flush against the sea wall and it was still impossible to see the sea.

Into the theatre for a two-hour question time debate with the Opposition spokeswoman Caroline Flint, Tory small business champion Julian Smith and Mike Cherry of the FSB. It was certainly a lively session.

What was clear from delegates’ questions was a loathing for supermarkets and their corrosive effect on town centres, fear that next month’s rise in fuel duty will push many small businesses over the edge and a passionate belief onshore wind farms risk spoiling our green and pleasant land.

In other words, the voice of Middle England, where the values of decency and fair play still exist alongside a mistrust of large corporations.

Small businesses have a powerful spokeswoman in Selina Scott, who chaired the two-day conference with grace and quiet but forceful conviction that small businesses represent the backbone of this country and deserve to be listened to.

And they will be heard. After the debate, delegates spilled out of the hall into brilliant blue skies. The fog had lifted.