Made in Britain was invited to speak at UK Construction Week - the UK's largest built environment event, on 7 October at the NEC. Chief executive John Pearce stepped up
THE focus of my presentation at UK Construction Week was on trust and local supply chain resilience – one key to unlock some of the solutions to import delays and raw material inflation.
I was able to draw on case studies from members. Plunkett Associates, for example, has been helping its clients find local production solutions, often via its sister company Adept Precision which provides prototype and production tooling.
TRT Lighting (another Made in Britain member) has had a new steel production tool manufactured by Adept Precision - and the advantages have been many and varied. TRT has described a dramatic reduction in component ‘miles’; a shorter, more responsive supply chain; and reduced exposure to fluctuating exchange rates.
The COVID crisis underscored the importance of having suppliers close at hand, especially for those manufacturers working to produce the goods that the country desperately needed during an unprecedented public health crisis. And when the pandemic brought global supply chains to a halt, many companies had to go on the hunt for alternatives closer to home.
Lincolnshire-based RECO Surfaces is a champion of modular construction on British soil. Recent projects have included anti-scratch panelling for the NHS and bespoke installations for Premier Inn hotels - delivered with more speed, at lower cost, and with reduced environmental impact compared to the alternatives.
Street-furniture maker Furnitubes completely reassessed its supply chain network amid concerns over production of its cast-iron seats and bollards. The company decided to discontinue many of its low-volume imported stock products, while also launching a project to manufacture its new steel planter wall without any components shipped from abroad. It will be 100 per cent made in Britain.
I answered questions from the audience on skills and the importance of UK manufacturing in appealing to younger people starting out in their career. We also discussed what government could do to support British manufacturing and how important the circular economy will be in the coming years as manufacturing businesses see raw material cost inflation and, in some cases, scarcity.
Meeting members at trade events, for me is second only to visiting their factories. Holding a Durisol breeze block made from up-cycled end-of-use wooden pallets (they are much lighter than they look) and chatting to development manager, Derek Atkins (photo right) about the future of local construction product manufacturing, confirmed my belief that our members really are able to emerge from the pandemic and Brexit better and greener, with a renewed focus on the importance of proximity and quality, and equally important, overall responsibility.
John Pearce will be speaking at Advanced Engineering on Wednesday 3 November at the NEC.
By Made in Britain 2 years ago | By Made in Britain