Reshoring UK manufacturing: how, why and who?

Efforts to beef up UK supply chains and encourage manufacturers to favour domestic production have been gathering momentum for a while now.

But the challenges presented by the Covid-19 pandemic – coupled with concerns over the impact of Brexit -  have turbocharged these arguments and reshoring is now being seen as an increasingly important in terms of bolstering UK manufacturing resilience and ensuring that its manufacturing supply chains are fit for an uncertain future.

For this special report, in an effort to understand more about the benefits, challenges and practicalities of reshoring, The Engineer approached some of those at the sharp end of this phenomenon, including two firms who have actually recently reshored production to the UK: electric bike manufacturer Volt and Industrial hardware specialist Albert Jagger

But first, to get a broader perspective on the benefits of reshoring and the assistance that’s available we caught up with Make UK’s Senior Campaigns and Skills Policy Manager Bhavina Bharkada; and Julia Moore - Chief Executive of trade body, the GTMA  and head of Reshoring UK, an initiative which is helping manufacturers tap into the UK existing supply chain.