EEF announces Manufacturing Week

EEF, the manufacturers’ organisation has announced that ‘Manufacturing Week’ this year will take place from March 1.

The week is part of the campaign sparked by last year’s publication of ‘Manufacturing. Our Future’ and is designed to promote the success of the sector and policies to promote a better balanced economy.

The week will involve a series of regional and national events around the UK aimed at manufacturers, politicians of all parties including prospective parliamentary candidates, the media and other key stakeholders.

These will include regional debates and other events, as well as site visits to companies for sitting and prospective candidates, with the week culminating in the launch of EEF’s Manufacturing Manifesto. This will suggest refreshed policies to create an internationally competitive business environment for manufacturing and one that sends the right signals to would-be investors and a pro-active agenda for growth.

The week-long campaign is also aimed at debunking the popular myth that the UK has lost its manufacturing base and will feature a dedicated website. This will contain case studies of world leading companies, letters to prospective parliamentary candidates inviting them to visit facilities and show their support for the sector and downloadable facts and figures, for example:

• Manufacturing generates 13.5% of GDP and was worth £131bn in 2009
• 75% of business R&D in the UK is carried out by manufacturers, worth almost £12bn
• Manufacturing generates 53% of UK export earnings
• Almost 3,500 chemicals companies manufacture in the UK
• The UK aerospace industry is the second largest in the world, employing over 100,000 highly skilled people and worth £17.9bn
• UK manufacturing is worth over £130bn

EEF Director of Policy, Steve Radley, said: “This is the perfect opportunity to celebrate the success of manufacturing and tell politicians and the public why manufacturing is so important to our future. We have to tackle the myth that the UK doesn’t have a manufacturing sector and set out how our sector can take a more important role than it has done in the recent past

“Our over-reliance on financial services has been exposed during the recession and the shift to a more balanced economy will require the next government of whatever colour to think and act differently. It’s a huge task but we have to start now.”

Details of the week and the campaign can be found by visiting the manufacturing week website www.lovemanufacturing.co.uk