CBM calls on Government to urgently back UK manufacturing

In a stark warning, one of the UK’s leading manufacturing figures has called on the Government to focus on reindustrialisation rather than deindustrialisation - before it is too late. Stephen Morley, the current president of the Confederation of British Metalforming (CBM), has made the rallying call in the wake of unprecedented headwinds that have hit industry in decades, with the volatility of the ‘Trump Tariffs’ being the latest hammer blow.

He believes that the US president’s moves are just the latest issue to befall SMEs in the supply chain and that there are longer-term challenges to acknowledge and overcome, including successive policy decisions that have failed to back manufacturers.

Mr Morley, ho has been involved in the automotive sector for more than 35 years, said: “Our economy isn’t struggling because of a single moment. It has been built on policy decisions made by successive UK Governments, decisions that have seen the manufacturing sector’s share of GDP fall by over a third from 15% in 2000 to around 9% today. We are reaping the results of weak investment in UK manufacturing that has continued for decades. Successive Government policies, whether that be on energy, skills, or infrastructure, have completely failed industry.”

He continued: “The previous Government couldn’t even bring itself to formulate an Industrial Strategy, while Labour, which was elected on a platform for growth, pulled the rug from under us with an anti-growth budget, just a few months after coming into power. As a result, manufacturing finds itself on such fragile foundations that with every external shock, we see more cracks appearing. As a country, it is shocking that we are much closer to deindustrialisation than reindustrialisation.”

Competitive energy pricing
The CBM represents over 200 members involved in the production of fasteners, forgings, pressings, cold-rolled and sheet-metal products. It is calling for less talk and more action for British industry, with more competitive energy pricing, a fair-trading environment, and supply chains that work for the businesses that rely on them.

Bosses at the CBM want the Business Secretary to introduce policies that strengthen manufacturing, instead of paying lip service whilst continuing to push financial services. Mr Morley continued: “In short, we need action to stop the harm and a real plan for reindustrialisation before it is too late for businesses, our members and hundreds of thousands of SMEs that actually make things, who are being left behind.

“The CBM is standing up for companies that keep this country’s manufacturing sector alive. We will continue to push for the policies, the investment, and the changes that will allow our members to compete and thrive.”

He concluded: “Without action, without a real strategy, and l don’t mean a flimsy Industrial Strategy with no investment behind it, we all know where it’s heading. Deindustrialisation isn’t inevitable but if we don’t fight for manufacturing now, it could be.”