Reports of our death are greatly exaggerated

A consultant, who shall remain nameless, read the last rites to UK manufacturing last month. He'd spoken to some bigwig at the BBC who had it on good authority that the eurozone crisis would spark a death rattle at factories from Broadstairs to Belfast. Funny, then, that the only rattling reported by managers at WM's Outlook roundtable last month was that of production lines running at full tilt. It's a shame our consultant couldn't be there to hear a cross-section of manufacturers giving glowing predictions for 2012. Many sites are thriving: exports are on the up thanks to boom economies like Brazil and China, and SMEs are winning business back from Asia as shipping costs soar. Of course there are concerns over the eurozone and a much-mooted global recession, but you won't find UK manufacturers pressing the panic button. Instead, most are unruffled; there is a steely determination to ride out the storm. Many will seek shelter in specially-constructed continuous improvement bunkers. Factory walls have been reinforced over recent years with programmes aimed at cutting waste, maximising profits and growing workforce skills. Meanwhile retailers have performed their best rendition of the first of the three piggies. The high street has been busy building on straw, with survival resting on shifting more and more stock regardless of some glaring internal inefficiencies. It's a business model that's sure to be blown away by the impending economic twister. Manufacturing can expect a more robust future. But just don't expect to hear about it in the national media. A sector bristling with bulldog spirit doesn't really fit in with round-the-clock bulletins bringing you all the latest doom and gloom from financial crashes, slumps and crises. So expect more 'expert' correspondents to write off UK industry without consulting those on the frontline first. And, worse still, expect more impressionable consultants to take their word for it.