Manufacturers frown on government manufacturing strategy

While almost all (93%) valued the government's message that manufacturing is essential to the UK economy, the research indicated they do not see policy pledges translating to concrete change. The findings are drawn from BDO's Manufacturing the Future, one of the largest surveys to date of the engineering and manufacturing communities, and the views expressed jar with government messages around the importance of the sector to rebalance the economy. Looking ahead, three quarters (73%) of manufacturers predicted overall improvement in the economic outlook, but more than half (51%) are not confident that manufacturing will be a core sector of the UK economy in 10 years' time. Nearly half again (44%) anticipate no increase in the sector's share of GDP, suggesting the sector is conspicuous by its absence in supporting long-term growth, despite government messages to the contrary. BDO's head of manufacturing Tom Lawton (pictured) said the over-riding message from the survey was that words were not enough. "Our research suggests that policy pledges amount to empty rhetoric, not concrete change," he continued. "Optimism for longer term economic growth is encouraging, but it's worrying that manufacturers don't envisage they'll have a significant role in achieving it – especially given the government's insistence on the sector's importance to the rebalancing of the economy." Elsewhere, the research pointed to manufacturers wanting: · the establishment of an industrial bank; · a revamp of the education system; · more patriotism when awarding large government contracts; · a more supportive tax system; · more innovation from government in providing funding support to the sector (to provide an alternative to the banks); and · more focus on exports to emerging economies to reduce export dependence on the Eurozone.