Midlands manufacturers must lead growth in post-Brexit economy

MANUFACTURERS in the Midlands have said the region must continue to attract investment in the wake of the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

They said creating jobs and a continuing focus on improving skills should be strategies adopted whether the UK was in the Single Market or not.

The reaction of Jaguar Land Rover, which has been responsible for billions of pounds being pumped into the region over the last five years, is still unclear.

In recent years, the company has expanded its global footprint by setting up a manufacturing joint venture in China, while earlier this month it marked the official opening of its new plant in Brazil.

It has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Slovakia but whether that scheme will now progress is not known, while recent speculation about the company looking to set up a new plant for its electric vehicle ambitions, to say nothing of its rumoured interest in the home of the British Grand Prix, Silverstone, remain unclear.

Nevertheless, with demand for its vehicles at an all-time high and strong sales in the US and China, what happens in Europe is unlikely to cause the company too manty sleepless nights – despite its initial support for the Remain campaign.

One man close to the company’s parent, Tata Motors, is WMG chairman and founder Professor Lord Kumar Bhattacharyya.

He said he did not believe the company would be curtailing its ambitions because of what happened in the referendum; although on a personal note he said he was sad at the outcome.

“We now have to do our best to keep our Midlands economy going,” he said. “I suspect that inward investment may be difficult in the short term but hopefully will continue to come through in the long term.

“I do not believe the decision will have any effect on Jaguar Land Rover’s investment decisions albeit there are implications in terms of the strength of sterling, sales to Europe and the import of parts. Though I remain hopeful that automotive suppliers will still want to set up in the region.”

He said the region now had to focus on creating full employment and improving the salaries of workers in the manufacturing sector.

“We need to bring more manufacturing to the West Midlands and not just rely on the service sector,” he added.

“There is lots of talk about skills and apprentices – people now need to implement this. We have to create opportunities and be positive. We are in a multi-cultural society and we must put education at the forefront.”

He has already sought to address this by helping to establish a second WMG engineering academy in the region.

The new academy in Chelmsley Wood was officially launched last week and will welcome its first student intake in September.

The new college follows the success of the initial WMG Academy in Coventry.

Another of the region’s manufacturing powerhouses – excavator firm JCB – had nailed its colours to the Leave campaign right from the outset.

The chairman of the firm, Lord Bamford, said the UK had little to fear from Brexit.

“In light of the UK’s vote to leave the European Union, the business community now needs to look to the future,” he said.

“The UK is the world’s fifth largest trading nation. We therefore have little to fear from leaving the EU.

“European markets are important to many UK businesses, including JCB, and this will not change. As a consequence of this momentous decision, we should look ahead to opportunities to trade more freely with the rest of the world, as well as building on existing trading relationships with customers and suppliers in Europe.”

Chris Greenhough, president of Made in the Midlands President and director of Shropshire-based, Salop Design and Engineering, said the manufacturing sector now more than ever, needed to be united.

“There will be tough times ahead, but we can once again be a stronger country and we have taken back the control that allows us to decide our own destiny,” he said.   
“We can make this decision the start of something that makes our country the world leader we know we are.”

On the supply side, Tony Hague, chairman of the Midlands Assembly Network, said this was not the time for knee-jerk reactions and what was needed was through review of the new political and trading landscape and how it was going to develop.

“There will undoubtedly be levels of uncertainty and, as manufacturers, we have had to deal with this a lot in the last nine months and will continue to be positive in our approach to winning new work with our partners both in the EU and across the rest of the world,” he said.

“MAN is testament to what can be achieved when we work together in collaboration and I think that needs to be the overriding sentiment as we tackle the immediate ‘uncertainty’ and prepare to explore the potential long-term opportunity.”

Adrian Wright, president of the Black Country Chamber of Commerce, said the region needed to ensure that that it had the right people in place to take the UK forward.

“Naturally there will be a level of uncertainty, therefore strong and committed leadership is vital to unite the country. We need to join together as a business community at this time, as a chamber we will be working to support our members and work closely with the British Chambers of Commerce and Chamber network to champion business requirements,” he said.