The open letter by Make UK, the manufacturers' organisation, Ceemet, its European equivalent, and a number of leading manufacturers and affiliate organisations, says:
While UK manufacturing is slowly recovering from the ongoing COVID crisis, essential to that recovery is the seamless operation of supply chains and the modern marvel of just-in-time logistics.
A no-deal scenario with our most critical trading partner, the EU, would be disastrous for manufacturing and for the millions more employed in supporting industries both here in the UK and across the EU.
The impacts would go far beyond disruptions in trade at the border. Families and communities would be left hanging in the balance, affecting real people who need the well-paid jobs that manufacturing provides alongside its contribution of almost half of Britain’s global exports.
Manufacturing and engineering companies employ 2.7million in every constituency up and down the UK and many millions more across the whole of Europe. Their products power our loves - the cars we drive, the technology behind our schools and hospitals, even the meals we consume. Britain is a leading exporter of innovation, product and technical skills which are playing a critical part in boosting efforts to lead our economic recovery and the same can be said for many of the great manufacturing nations across Europe.
The Covid crisis has had an incredibly damaging impact across the UK and Europe. As a consequence it has been impossible to fully prepare for the changes that are coming in January. Should we face the challenge of an acrimonious exit without a deal, businesses in the UK and Europe are united in the view that they are not and cannot be ready for the disruption that we face.
AS A CONSEQUENCE WE ARE CALLING ON THE UK AND EU TO:
1. Get back to the negotiating table
2. Ensure that we avoid the disaster of an exit without a deal
3. Work to ensure that we achieve the best deal possible avoiding tariffs, simplifying rules of origin and minimising red tape and bureaucracy at the border
Signatories of the letter include:
Stephen Phipson CBE, CEO Make UK
Oliver Zander, Chairman, Ceemet
Paul Sheerin, CEO Scottish Engineering
Stephen Kelly, CEO Manufacturing NI
Peter Bloch, Director EEF NI
Make UK members
Peter Davies, Chief Executive, James Lister
Rowan Crozier, CEO, Brandauer
Matthias Meyer, Managing Director, Heller Machine Tools
John Taylor, Chief Executive, SG Technologies
Helen Doughty, Director, SHD Composite Materials
George Wright, Managing Director, M Wright & Sons Ltd
Fiona Ellis-Winkfield, Managing Director, Gordon Winkfield
Andrea Wilson, Director, Hone-all
Austen Adams, Director, Avingtrans
Raymond Oliver, Managing Director, Sone Products
David Mitchell, Managing Director, Katmex Ltd
Leanne Holmes, Managing Director, Crane Payment Innovations
Peter Morris, Vice President, Finance & Global Supply Chain, Transcontinental Advanced Coatings
Barry Leahey, Managing Director, Playdale Playgrounds
Adrian May, Commercial Manager, Presspart Manufacturing Ltd
Mark Lord, Managing Director, Aztec Oils
Robert Pickersgill, Managing Director, W Hallam Castings
James Tear, Managing Director, Thessco Ltd
Brian Reece, CEO & Managing Director, Sheffield Precision Medical
James Greenham, Managing Director, EMS Physio
Tom McMurtrie, Managing Director, Hymid Multi Shot Ltd
David O’Hare, Managing Director, Clwyd Compounders
Robert Munro, Operations Director, Denis Ferranti Group
Mike Evans, Managing Director, EBS Automation Ltd
Gavin Peters, CEO-UK, Tri-Wall UK
Stephen Jones, Managing Director, Altron Communications Equipment Ltd
Neil Gregory, Director, G.O.S. Tool & Engineering Services Ltd
Peter Morris, VP Finance & Global Supply Chain, Transcontinental Advanced Coatings
Paul Crutcher, Operations Director, Bisley
Almero Barnard, Chief Manufacturing Officer, Jellagen Marine Biotechnologies
Andrew Churchill, Director, JJ Churchill
Mike Hague Morgan, Co-Owner & Commercial Director, Autocraft Drivetrain
Stuart Johnson, Director, Rutland Plastics
Simon Beech, COO, Naysmyth Group
Chris Perry, Managing Director, Timberwolf
Darren Joint, Managing Director, Viking Signs
Richard Herbert, Executive Chairman, Herbert Group
Make UK affiliate and partner organisations
Vanda Jones, Executive Director, British Compressed Air Society
Sue Halliwell, Operations Manager, Composites UK
Peter Hunt, COO, Lighting Industry Association
Steve Brambley, Chief Executive, GAMBICA
Geraldine Bolton, Chief Executive, Confederation of British Metalforming
David Harrison, Chief Operating Officer, PPMA, BARA & UKIVA
Julia Moore, Chief Executive, GTMA
Charles Byrne, Technical Director, Graham Hart Process Technology
Dr Andrew Mair, Chief Executive, Midlands Aerospace Alliance
Tom Bowtell, CEO, British Coatings Federation
Robert Fell, Director and Chief Executive, Metal Packaging Manufacturers Association
Steve Schofield, Director & Chief Executive, British Pump Manufacturers Association
Martin Maley, Director General, NASS
André González De Savage, Chief Executive, British Enterprise Partnership
Diana Taylor, Managing Director, Marketing Humber
Keith Warren, Chief Executive, Foodservice Equipment Association
James Selka, CEO, MTA
Philip Law, Director General, BPF
Rob Oliver, Chief Executive, CEA
Richard Fallon, CEO, The Technology Supply Chain
Andrew Kinniburgh, DG, NDI
Nick Mellor, Managing Director, LEIA
