A total of 38 organisations representing the engineering sector, including the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) (www.theiet.org), have said that it is essential for industry to act together in the national interest to support the Government in its forthcoming negotiations with the EU to secure the best-possible outcome for the UK following last month’s referendum.

At a joint meeting held on 29 June, the organisations agreed that they must co-operate to provide evidence-based advice to Government and ensure that the needs of all sectors with a dependence on engineering are represented and understood. They have asked the Royal Academy of Engineering (RAEng) to lead this work. A project has been established to consult widely across engineering and beyond, gather evidence, analyse the risks and opportunities and produce advice to underpin a strong negotiating position and a positive result for the UK.

IET chief executive Nigel Fine (pictured) said: “It is imperative that we work together to ensure the best outcomes for UK engineering, which is so important to a vibrant and successful economy. We will do everything we can to ensure that the interests of engineers and UK engineering are represented as strongly as possible.”

Philip Greenish, chief executive of the RAEng (www.raeng.org.uk), said: “Never in my life-time has there been an issue that so emphatically requires strategic collaboration across the engineering profession. We are rising to this challenge and pooling our resources to give the Government the best advice and access to our networks to inform its planning and leadership role. We are building a pro-active framework for making engineering advice available to the Government on these critical matters — for now and for the duration of the change process.”