Thirty-two manufacturers have successfully applied for £90 million of government funding to help British suppliers compete in the global economy and attract foreign investors, Vince Cable has announced.
Vince commented:
Building up the supply chain and encouraging new suppliers to manufacture here is one of the steps we’re taking to strengthen the UK’s manufacturing capability.
The BIS website describes the initiative:
The Advanced Manufacturing Supply Chain Initiative aims to help existing UK supply chains grow and achieve world class standards while encouraging major new suppliers to come and manufacture here.
The new fund will support innovative projects in established UK advanced manufacturing sectors such as aerospace, automotive and chemicals. It will also target newer growth areas where the UK is well placed to take a global lead, such as energy renewables and other low carbon sectors.
You can read a full Financial Times article on this news item here.
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4 Comments
Sounds good, and puzzling. My question is: why focus on supply chains? Is it because the existence of a chain gives reassurance that a market is there? As opposed to innovative industries where the market has to be grown and there is less confidence that it can be?
I see this excellent BIS initiative as a contribution to building clusters of advanced manufacturing businesses within the UK. Successful long term manufacturing is all about capacity, clusters of excellence (whether by industry, or geographically) and government commitment to backing UK investment.
This continues to puzzle. Long-term success in manufacturing requires having efficient and responsive supply chains, but not that they necessarily be located in clusters nor indeed that all elements in the chain be in the UK.
But why should govt tax some people to subsidise automotive supply chains?