Industrial Strategy will be inclusive of all sectors, Fallon tells BFAs

Fallon pledged an inclusive blueprint that worked in partnership with factories of all shapes and sizes. "It isn't just aerospace and automotive," Fallon exclusively told the Best Factory Awards. "It's my job as business minister to deliver the industrial strategy across different sectors. To my knowledge it's a partnership with each part of industry. It means focusing with the industry on collaborative R&D, it means taking a hard look at the supply chain, a more coherent export strategy, improving access to finance and another hard look at the skills base." Fallon said he "looked forward" to working with Best Factory Award winning factories to make the startegy happen. Fallon's comments came after WM editor Max Gosney had urged the government to acknowledge the success of lesser known manufacturers in his opening address. Gosney said: "The good news doesn't begin and end with automotive and aerospace giants. Makers of vending machine products, battery seperators and gas sensors are in this room. They don't just survive in the UK, they soar." Fallon also announced a third government manufacturing summit in the Midlands next year following on from the 2011 summit in Bristol. Fallon concluded his Best Factory Award address by awarding the Make it in Great Britain Challenge prize to BAE Systems for Bedflex, an elastic attachment for use by recovering amputees and critical care patients which allows them to take part in bed-based exercise to aid rehabilitation. To download a copy of the Best Factory Award winners brochure click the link below: