Sheffield City Region: Manufacturing sets an example

MANUFACTURING can set an example for the rest of the Sheffield City Region to follow. That is one of the key messages to emerge from a new supplement looking at the future of the Sheffield City Region from TheBusinessDesk.com, in association with DLA Piper and Sheffield Hallam University.

The Sheffield City Region is synonymous with manufacturing but the products produced under the “Made in Sheffield” banner have moved well beyond the ‘metal bashing’ of the past.

Dorrien Peters, associate in the specialist litigation team at DLA Piper, said: “The sector has recognised that we can’t compete on a like for like basis with traditional manufacturing. A focus on innovation, R&D and increased efficiencies is where we ought to be aiming, not necessarily with new products but certainly processes.

“But for that to happen we have got to keep investment up. Businesses are still investing in the downturn although some would say not enough. That’s partly a cultural thing in the UK.”

Experts in the region think that there are opportunities for other sectors to benefit from the “Made in Sheffield” brand if they follow manufacturing’s example and focus on innovation in order to target the top end of their markets.

ITM Power, a producer of clean energy storage products, is just one example of the high technology firms emerging from the region.

The innovative business was the first hydrogen fuel cell company to be listed on the stock market back in 2006, and it had a second fundraising round in 2008,

Chief executive Graham Cooley said: “We have a genuinely unique product in a growing market. It’s not recession proof but it addresses the emphasis of many governments around the world about decarbonising.”