Almost three quarters (73%) want to see training the next generation of manufacturers as the top priority for government, report A Blueprint for the Future of UK Manufacturing revealed.
More than eight in 10 (86%) said a more focused approach to promoting and teaching STEM skills as early as primary school was also a crucial way in which productivity can be improved in the future. The research also reveals a desire for R&D support to drive innovation. Four in 10 of the 80 respondents called for permanent R&D tax credits.
There are signs in the paper that manufacturers are helping themselves. More than nine in 10 (91%) are deploying automation and control systems to increase efficiency, with 83% expressing a desire to continue investment in these areas in the future.
Brian Holliday, managing director – Digital Factory, Siemens UK & Ireland, called manufacturing a “critical sector” and as such it was “crucial that its future success is protected”.
“It delivers 11% of national GDP and employs 2.6 million people,” he said. “Recent reports from the EEF have shown that manufacturing is key to solving the UK’s ‘productivity puzzle’, so now is the time for action to build upon the good work already underway, and lay a strong foundation from which our innovative manufacturing sector can compete on a global stage once again.”
