Tuesday 27th February saw the Aluminium Federation’s (ALFED) Membership and Sustainability Manager, Nadine Bloxsome, and Marketing and Communications Assistant, Emily Foster head into London to attend the 2024 Make UK National Manufacturing Conference.
Taking place at the QEII Centre in the heart of Westminster, London, the day was jam-packed full of excellent government speakers who shared an abundance of information about the current and future plans for the UK manufacturing sector, with a general election and potential change of government imminent later this year.
Make UK’s CEO, Stephen Phipson CBE kicked the proceedings off, highlighting a breakdown of priorities for the next UK government, starting with addressing the need for a comprehensive industrial strategy and more political and policy stability. Other priorities included a vital review of the UK’s defence policy and the need to invest in defence manufacturing, reformation of the apprentice scheme and safeguarding UK energy security.
ALFED CEO, Tom Jones has since responded with his own thoughts on the UK’s need for an industrial strategy from the interest of the aluminium sector, commenting: “The British economy was built on our ability to manufacture high-quality, desirable products at competitive prices that were in demand around the world. Communities were formed around local factories and factory work provided a core identity for people in all corners of the country. Unfortunately, the government has lost sight of the importance of manufacturing, and our country and society are suffering for it. The past 3 years has exposed how vulnerable our economy is and how much more susceptible we are to global events compared to other countries. Brexit, Covid and the Energy crises all have exposed how dependent we are to critical imported resources. Our status is a product of chronic economic mismanagement. Successive governments from both parties have failed to create policies that strengthen the economy’s foundations, consistently grow GDP, and set up the economy for long-term success. The UK’s economy is in a state of chaos because of little or no clear industrial strategic plan to develop UK manufacturing into a global leader. To summarise, a successful long-term executed strategy would create wealth, tax revenue, job creation, and growth!”
Alistair Campbell and Rt Hon Rory Stewart OBE hosted a Keynote session and offered an engaging discussion where one of the key questions asked of the audience was how do we as a sector, engage with political parties on both sides and what message do we want to land with the Shadow Minister?
In discussing the topic, they questioned why the narrative of modern manufacturing hasn’t developed?
They also opened up the floor to the audience and asked how many people in the room believed that Sir Keir Starmer would be the next UK Prime Minister within the next 12 months… A question which almost everybody raised their hand to. They also discovered that a large majority of the audience believed that their company had been negatively affected by the UK leaving the EU, and that they would benefit from the country re-joining the European Customs Union.
Nusrat Ghani MP, Minister of State for Industry and Economic Security then spoke, offering her thoughts and a growing recognition that we must be more self-sufficient across our manufacturing sectors. Commenting, she announced that: “We need to move past the defeatist narrative that the UK doesn’t make anything anymore.” Other key points of Minister Ghani’s presentation included:
- Since 2010, the UK has had the fastest growing manufacturing sector in the G7
- The majority of manufacturers view the UK manufacturing sector as becoming more competitive
- The UK government is ploughing an additional £5 million into the aerospace sector
- With the Advanced Manufacturing plan being an ambition backed by £4.5B investment, it will be interesting to see this being implemented across automotive and aerospace manufacturing projects…
Her closing comments supported a need to build resilience for U.K. manufacturing: “The U.K. is a proud champion of free, fair, global trade.”
Following a short refreshment and networking interval, Jonathan Reynolds MP, Shadow Secretary of State for the Department of Business and Trade, addressed delegates with his thoughts on how a thriving manufacturing base is key to net zero, levelling up and national security. He stated that this starts with stability (something that has been lacking over the years) and a need for an industrial strategy that ‘backs those how build it in Britain’.
Speaking on the conference, ALFED Membership and Sustainability Manager, Nadine Bloxsome, commented: “As the UK gears up for a General Election, this year’s Make UK conference was pivotal in highlighting that the U.K. manufacturing sector is of global importance and plays a key role in the economic life of local communities across the country. It was also great to see the need for an Industrial Strategy being championed by Stephen Phipson, Make UK CEO, and he stressed the importance that such a strategy requires a cross party consensus to build international confidence. ”
After lunch, delegates then separated into breakout sessions, focussing on ‘Inspiring your diverse next generation of talent from A-Z’ and ‘ESG: What is it all about?’
ALFED Marketing and Communications Assistant, Emily Foster attended the session on Inspiring the next generation of talent, commenting: “It was great to attend such an inspiring breakout session. As someone who was new into the metals industry from July last year, I quickly picked up the issue of the skills gap shortage in the industry. Manufacturing is a sector that works so differently to other industries these days. Teaching young people hands-on physical skills that are so controversial to the theoretical skills that students are taught in schools. Manufacturing relies on allowing people to unleash their creativity to try new things and see how parts fit together. Whereas school these days teach students how to retain knowledge for long enough to get through an exam. Knowledge that is then forgotten shortly after. It was great to hear Tony Ryan, CEO of the Design & Technology Association’s story of how he was asked to leave school early because he was failing, and how learning to be a car mechanic saved him. Allowing him to understand the things that didn’t make sense at school in a practical, hands-on environment. He concluded with highlighting that design and technology is the only subject in schools that teaches children that it’s okay to fail, as failing gives you the experience and motivation to improve and succeed in the end. Social Media Manager of The Talent People/Get My First Job , Joshua McLaughlin then went on to explain the power of social media when reaching the younger generation, highlighting the importance of how young people thrive off hearing form other young people, and how 40% of the generation Z population use Instagram as their most preferred online search platform”.
Other key highlights included:
- Less than 10,000 students now take an A Level in design and technology
- 20-30% of schools have actually taken design and technology off the curriculum due to the lack of demand
To finish, ALFED CEO Tom Jones has highlighted his comments on what the UK aluminium industry needs from the next government: “We need…
- A clear desire from government to support manufacturing
- To remove political interference from the UK industrial strategic plan; the current life of any government strategy is the tenure of the trade minister or government of that time
- The removal of barriers that prevent progress, cost of energy, infrastructure development, national grid development, planning obstructions, investment incentives, both FDI and domestic
- The creation of a trading environment that makes the UK an attractive place to come and set up shop
Tom also addressed why he believes that manufacturing should be prioritised: “To put it simply, manufacturing has a much more significant impact on increasing the UK’s productivity and has a better ability to boost our economic growth than other industries. Manufactured goods are much easier to sell internationally compared to services as a proportion of GDP, helping improve the balance of payments that Britain has struggled with for decades. Manufacturing must lay at the heart of the government’s economic agenda, and the joint focus of the government and the Bank of England on lowering inflation must come to an end. Growing the economy through industry and manufacturing is the best way forward”.
To find out more about ALFED, or to become a member, please visit: www.alfed.org.uk.
