Midlands manufacturing must change with the times, says webinar panel

Midlands manufacturers need to look to future and understand how the world will have changed between now and 2022, according to the panel at our latest webinar.

An expert panel at Getting Back on Track: How to safeguard manufacturing in a post-Covid world was joined by over 100 audience members to hear how the sector can come to term with the “new normal”.

Returning to work will not be a simple “switch on” with many businesses having to fundamentally change the way they work, said Johnathan Dudley, national head of manufacturing business at sponsors Crowe.

He said: “Business owners need to visualise where their companies will look like next year and the year after that. Things might well be different in the marketplace.

“However, I’m confident for the future. Manufacturing led the way out of the first lockdown, and it can do the same the second time around.”

Stephen Morley, president, Confederation of British Metalforming said there was a “long difficult road ahead” for Midlands manufacturing, and that the Government doesn’t full understand what the sector needs to thrive again.

He added: “What I fear is that some manufacturers are waiting until there is some clarity over whether there will be a deal with the EU or not. I’d say they have to start planning now – but many are already well behind.”

Jim Griffin, managing director, Interflex said the immediate future for his company was looking good. “Our biggest risk is what happens to the car industry,” he said. “But we;re confident for next year. We’ve been lucky in that we’ve been able to invest our own cash into the business and we’re looking to pump even more of that money in next year.”

Steve Hardeman, managing director, Clevedon Fasteners said he’d seen it all before. “I’m not too fussed about Brexit,” he admitted. “I’ve been through a drop in oil stocks, nunerous recessions and the credit crunch. We’ll just get on with it.”

For Emma Clewes, director at Crowe, the important thing was for businesses to hold onto what they have. She said: “The priority for business owners over the next 12 months will be to protect what they’ve built over the years. If they can do that then they should be set fair in the medium term.”