Bennett Engineering are proud members of the East Midlands Manufacturing Network who champion the manufacturers here in the East Midlands, as part of being this network East Midlands Chamber offered us the opportunity to have an exhibition stand at their East Midlands Manufacturing and Trade Conference at Loughborough University. We jumped at the chance to exhibit with our manufacturing partners JB Engineering, so Craig, Seleena, Jayne and Wayne headed off to Loughborough to set up and start some conversations.
The conference opened with president Dawn Whitemoor highlighting the rich historic background of manufacturing in our region and how we need sustainable growth for our sector in the East Midlands.
The Vice Chancellor of Loughborough University highlighted that we are the ‘heart of the Midlands’ and with us leading the industrial revolution back in the day that we still have uncertainty to navigate in today’s challenging times even though the region is still strong today for manufacturing. The four areas that Nick Jennings focused on was Investment, Innovation, Infrastructure and International – his 4 I’s – and how the university is committed to creating better futures together for the sector. So far they have supported over 150 start ups and LUINK is an important place for graduate jobs and are specifically leading the way for female entrepreneurship. The big news released, pending planning, is that Druck are relocating their global HQ to the campus in order to access the high calibre of graduates from the university. It was also interesting to hear about the zero carbon innovation centre that Loughborugh is running with other regional universities. Nick finished with ‘the East Midlands has real potential for growth and it’s important that we protect our industrial heritage.’
MAKE UK’s Chris Corkan, the regional director for this manufacturers organisation highlighted the following:
- The sector provides £270 billion of output
- Manufacturing accounts for half of the UK’s exports
- In 2024 we fell out of the top 10 manufacturing nations however some countries have increased manufacturing output due to increases in defense spending or requirements or with companies relocating to take advantage of markets such as what has been seen in Mexico to access the US – we haven’t shrank which is the good news!
- Need an industrial strategy now to provide the best environment for the UK.
- Defense spending will positively impact the UK’s manufacturing sector and this needs to trickle down into SME’s
- There are 60,000 manufacturing jobs unfilled in the UK currently, we need skills and we need people to want to work in the sector.
Chris also talked about focussing on productivity improvements for the sector, we’re a resilient and innovative sector so need to launch new products, increase BD investment and adopt more tech and digital tools to help us. With the green paper for the Industrial Strategy having undergone the consultation period manufacturers in the UK are in general optimistic for the future year ahead.
Graham Hitchen of Loughborough University’s Policy Department gave us more insights into the Industrial Strategy. With Invest 2035 having a strong focus on inward investment ideally this will be for UK companies to be built as opposed to international businesses coming in and taking over it’s important that the Industrial Strategy is released sooner rather than later and is strong for the existing UK manufacturing sector.
The themes from the Industrial Strategy consultant covered:
- Innovation and technology
- Encouraging investment specifically SME access to finance
- Placed based growth (infrastructure)
- Regulatory environment which is confusing an challenging
- Energy
- People and skills
- Planning system which is essential for investment in the East Midlands
- Better government and business partnership
Ian Harrison of the Department of Business and Trade highlighted how hard they are working to improve free markets, access to international markets and how to do business in other countries. There is a framework for growth of manufacturing and a trade strategy for exploring opportunities with the market access barriers already identified by the Department. The export opportunities are multifaceted but there’s real opportunity for UK businesses to work on rail modernisation in South Africa, Aerospace in the US, Automotive in Mexico and Chemical Manufacturing in Germany. The underserved markets include Canada, China, Japan and Mexico all of which the DBT Global Network can help us manufacturers access with British goods.
It was interesting to hear about East Midlands Airport which is a strategic national asset as the largest freight airport in the UK, it’s celebrating it’s 60th birthday this year and there’s lots of investment going on. The panel came together with freight forwarders and other businesses who work internationally to highlight what you need to know when it comes to exporting.
Our own partner, Jayne, was a speaker covering the attraction and retention of talent and how to improve productivity through people as part of a panel led by Mark Goldby who chairs the East Midlands Manufacturing Network. She highlighted “My key message is clear, yes I am a business owner and yes I am a Managing Director but I wouldn’t be without my team. I am here because they work so hard every day of the week delivering high quality products to our customers. It’s not luck that has meant we have a great team, it’s because JB Engineering is a respectful employer who want our people to reach their full potential and enjoy being at work every day.” We love this and we see it as their partner.
Finally to the amazing conversations we had with visitors who were interested in the mechanical engineering services we were showcasing from design through to the manufacturing, assembly, commissioning and installation of things like bespoke machinery or simply being a resource as an external design resource for mechanical projects. Every conversation was interesting from those who need a reliable partner to help extend their capacity, manufacture their items, create solutions for the challenges they have or to make machinery.
A great day spent in a great place with great people from across the sector.
