30.05.2024
Manufacturing is the engine of the UK economy: it drives innovation, job creation, and decarbonisation, and punches well above its weight on productivity, wages and exports. And in the face of various challenges in recent years, including the COVID-19 pandemic, global chip shortages, shipping disruptions, and war in Ukraine, UK manufacturers have shown remarkable resilience and adaptability.
They have also long-proven themselves as the cornerstones of local economies and communities, attracting investment and providing over 2.6 million high-quality, high-paid jobs in rural and regional areas. They play a vital role in skills development by training and upskilling workers and apprentices who are often the backbone of local towns, and provide a sense of community and identity. Their presence is truly invaluable.
Manufacturers are now well-positioned to grow even more in the coming years, with ambitions to boost the sector's proportion of UK GDP from 10% currently to 15% by the end of the next decade - growth potentially worth an additional £142bn to the UK economy. And they have set their sights on some other impressive goals for the future.
Whether that be capitalising on the opportunities awarded by achieving net zero before 2050; growing and developing a workforce fit for the future by nurturing new talent and retraining existing workers; unlocking innovation through accelerating digital adoption and automation; building their factories of the future with AI; or boosting exports around the globe.
But, in order to realise these ambitions, manufacturers need firm commitments from the next government. Commitments underpinned by a long-term, robust and modern industrial strategy that lasts beyond political cycles. Commitments to strengthen supply chains; to create the right business conditions for investment to take place; to ensure key infrastructure is up to scratch so that firms can grow. Commitments that show manufacturers that they are not on their own.
That’s why, ahead of the UK General Election on July 4th 2024, Make UK has launched its Makers’ Manifesto. It firmly highlights to the next government the areas of support manufacturers need and offers real, achievable solutions – solutions that we stand ready to work with industry and politicians alike to implement.