Champion sectors to secure UK industrial future – CBI
1 min read
The CBI has wheeled-in some big industrial guns to back its approach to maximising the UK's industrial opportunities. In a new report, 'Playing our strongest hand', the bosses union says that an industrial strategy that "plays to our strengths must be at the heart of efforts to rebalance the UK economy towards business investment and trade".
The report claims to set out a joined up approach to industrial strategy, providing indicative sector-specific action plans to make the most of the substantial opportunities for growth in key sectors such as aerospace, automotive and green technology – an approach that CBI analysis suggests could create the potential for £30bn worth of export opportunities by 2020.
Among the strategy's supporters, Mike Wright (pictured), executive director of Jaguar Land Rover, said the UK automotive industry was enjoying a resurgence and, in the right conditions, could thrive long into the future.
He continued: "We enjoy a strong relationship with our suppliers, and development across the industry is mutually beneficial: so it is equally essential to make sure that small and medium-sized enterprises get the capital to invest and grow."
CBI chief policy director Katja Hall said the right strategic approach was to tilt the playing field for sectors including automotive, aerospace chemicals and pharmaceuticals, agri-food, green technology, creative industries and knowledge-intensive business services. "What is crystal clear is that we have no time to waste. Countries like China, Singapore, South Korea, Germany and even the USA, are already backing sectors where they have strengths, boosting their industrial bases. If we choose to stand still, we will simply fall behind."
