Trust the future

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A manufacturing trust should be set up to help UK industry, especially SMEs, push its innovations and keep ahead of global competition, says Ernest Poku

The UK is the sixth largest manufacturing nation in the world, despite the demise of many of its big industrial companies.

To maintain this, industry needs to stay one step ahead of competitor nations by establishing a manufacturing-focused organisation that has the critical mass to direct the efforts of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to lead the world in innovation.

This was the conclusion of the annual innovation roundtable, sponsored by the Sainsbury Management Fellowship, an association of chartered engineers with MBAs from leading international business schools. It brought together 15 leaders from industry, government and academia to discuss the future of UK manufacturing.

The roundtable discussed how the industry should manage technology and innovation in the future.

The panel agreed that SMEs could make an important contribution to closing the gap between manufacturing in the UK and the other top five manufacturing nations. Many delegates observed a clear trend away from large, national champions towards smaller highly skilled companies driving innovation.

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