Manufacturing group launches MANifesto for global competitiveness

Bosses at MAN believe the four pillars of Investment, People, International Trade and Sustainability & Net Zero should form the overarching approach and will form the guiding principles for the individual businesses inside the collective.

They’re now calling on Whitehall to facilitate growth by providing tailored support and removing some of the bureaucratic barriers currently in place.

In a statement, Austin Owens, founder of Grove Design and co-chair of MAN, said: “UK manufacturing has come through Brexit and Covid-19 in remarkably good shape, but this is more to do with our innovation, our technical expertise and our quality than it has to do with a clear Industrial Strategy.

“We got tired of waiting for government to develop a vision like they benefit from in other countries, so decided to create our own MANifesto that will guide the future development of the eight firms and, in our opinion, the sector as a whole.”

He continued: “These four pillars have been developed in partnership with members and focus on People - developing skills, attracting the next generation of engineers and ensuring safe and supportive workplaces - and boosting International Trade through easier access to funded export support, a government commitment to boost reshoring and ringfencing infrastructure spend so the UK benefits.”