The photographers are all shortlisted in the sixth annual EEF/Lombard manufacturing photography competition, designed to raise the profile of UK manufacturing by showcasing the industry’s creativity, diversity and heritage through inspiring photography.
This year’s shortlisted photographs portray the various stages of manufacturing - from design, process and technology in action through to the finished product - and cover both traditional and high-tech sectors.
In total, 43 photographs will go on display at an awards ceremony in the House of Commons on Thursday 10 December, where the winning photographers will be announced. The winners will share a prize of £5,000 of Canon photography equipment.
There are three categories in the competition: professional photographer, sponsored by Canon, amateur photographer, and young photographer. Entries have been received from across the UK.
Ian Isaac, head of Lombard, said: “This competition is about putting modern day manufacturing in the frame and capturing how innovative and exciting this diverse industry is. The standard gets better every year and all of the shortlisted photographers should be very proud that their images successfully capture the beauty and drama of industry. Congratulations to them all and I can’t wait to see all of their photographs on display in Parliament later this year.”
For more information about the competition, click here.
Meanwhile, ONS figures out today show that business expenditure on R&D increased by 5% over 2014. EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation, welcomes the news as it’s the third consecutive year of growth, but cautions against cuts to Government support for innovation in next week’s spending review.
Felicity Burch, senior economist at EEF, says: “UK businesses have upped their investment in R&D for a third consecutive year as a result of ambitious business activity and improved Government support. This has led to strong job creation, with business employment in R&D up 7% over the year. Strong growth in expenditure was particularly notable in the transport equipment and electrical equipment sectors.”
She added: “However, today’s data does not change the fact that the UK still lags well behind competitor nations for R&D spend. As the economic outlook remains uncertain – particularly for the manufacturing sector – the Chancellor must get behind innovative businesses and maintain the breadth of innovation support provided by Innovate UK at next week’s spending review. Failure to do so risks Britain falling into the industrial slow-lane.”
