Experts from the HVM Catapult have identified that the recent bull-run in manufacturing in Britain is partly due to the decision by big companies to stay in Britain rather than move overseas, bucking the trend of previous decades.
"The effect of retaining production here is arguably more important than the evidence for reshoring, where production returns to the UK from abroad," it said.
"Companies are reshoring to Britain but also, several important factors are keeping them from off-shoring," added Professor Janet Godsell, professor of operations and supply chain strategy at Warwick Manufacturing Group, part of the HVM Catapult's seven centres.
"One global consumer packaged goods company chose to consolidate its single global supply chain hub in the UK, despite other options, because of the depth of supply chain planning skills its Southampton operation had developed. Britain needs to better understand its place in the global value networks of global companies to exploit the full breadth of its supply chain capability more strategically," she said.
The evidence of companies deciding to retain and invest in production in Britain and not chase potentially cheaper manufacture abroad has fed into a national survey conducted by Cranfield University to establish the drivers for reshoring in the UK.
The survey's results will be announced in a white paper at the National Manufacturing Debate being hosted at Cranfield on May 20, where HVM Catapult CEO Dick Elsy will give a presentation on the innovation drivers for reshoring.
"Reshoring is an important phenomenon that is boosting UK manufacturing, and I welcome Cranfield's survey to analyse the root causes." said Elsy. "Keeping manufacturing in the UK in the first place, however, is even more significant for the growth and success of our economy.
"Many global companies are not only deciding to keep production here, but deliberately want to increase the British component of their end products – such as Jaguar Land Rover in the Midlands, for example. Smaller companies need to know how to competitively produce their goods in this country, and how to exploit this recent tendency to develop local suppliers."
