Six Key Elements for Labour’s Industrial Strategy in June

As Labour prepares to introduce its industrial strategy in June, it’s crucial to consider the key elements that should be included to support and enhance the UK’s manufacturing sector.

Drawing from my experience as a headhunter in manufacturing, this article outlines the six essential components that I believe should be part of Labour’s manufacturing strategy.

1. Addressing Energy Costs

Top of the list is helping our major heavy industry manufacturers with the cost of energy.

The UK is more expensive, in terms of the cost it has to make things, than practically anywhere else in the world. This means we are less competitive and therefore less profitable than peers in Europe and particularly the US.

Our manufacturing base, particularly our heavy industry sectors, such as chemicals, metals, and process industries, will not invest in new plants unless there is more of a level playing field when it comes to the cost of energy.

2. Labour and Talent Acquisition

As a headhunter, I often face the challenge of convincing talented individuals to relocate to the UK. Undoubtedly, Brexit has made it more difficult to attract talented leaders and future leaders  from overseas, and has made the UK less attractive to people – especially from the European Union.

Unlocking those barriers, to attract people from outside the UK, who will add the technical, engineering, and added value experience that our manufacturing sectors will need, is going to be crucial. The UK has traditionally been very attractive as a place to live, and raise families, and this has never been more the case than now with heightened political and economic issues across the world. So why not do what we can to attract the talent that will become the future leaders of our manufacturing businesses one day?

3. Investment in Research and Development

Investment in research and development (R&D) is something that the UK has traditionally been very good at.

We are great developers of ideas for new products and new technologies, supported by world-leading universities and engineering businesses. Supporting R&D to ensure that products are designed, developed, and hopefully made in the UK is essential for the health of UK manufacturing.

This can be achieved through funding, tax incentives, and tax breaks.

4. Enhancing Productivity

Productivity is a perennial issue for the UK, with consecutive Governments failing to address the lack of productivity growth within the manufacturing sector.

Helping industry become more efficient, producing smarter products in a smarter way, is the holy grail for any major manufacturing nation like the UK. Technology, such as AI, could well be a way to unlock the lack of productivity growth. It’s about understanding how we can join the dots between the technology that exists now and how it can be linked to UK manufacturing to help grow our productivity malaise.

5. Reshoring Manufacturing

The concept of reshoring manufacturing has been spoken about for quite a few years.

While many manufacturers have moved production to lower-cost countries like China, Eastern Europe, and other parts of Asia, is there an incentive that the government could create to bring that manufacturing back to the UK?

This could be through tax breaks or investing in building a new plant.

Could they attract a manufacturing business to build a new plant here in the UK? That would be amazing. We could start to see new manufacturing plants being built, which would be an incredible sign of confidence that the UK is open for business as a manufacturing nation.

6. Promoting Key Sectors

If the government looks as though it’s really going to promote certain sectors, such as life sciences or defence sector spending, it means that they will be perceived as growth markets for manufacturing in the UK.

This can attract more people into these sectors as graduates and potentially attract people from different sectors to go into these markets because they can see a future in them. It could help us when we’re going out to the marketplace for clients in these markets to say, “Look, this is what the government’s doing. It’s backing this particular field.” It will therefore give you a longer-term career in that world, particularly if these are up-and-coming leaders moving through their career. It will give them the confidence to say, “Do you know what? This is a force that I want to back.”

Conclusion

If Labour’s strategy is clear and coherent, it will say that Labour is backing UK manufacturing. The manufacturing sector can then think that it has a government that believes in its manufacturing future. Manufacturers want a government that backs and supports them and wants to keep manufacturing here in the UK. By addressing the six areas I’ve spoken about, Labour can create a robust strategy that supports the growth and sustainability of UK manufacturing.

For further information on the work we do in the Manufacturing & Engineering Sector please contact Johnathan Burke.