42 roundtable: manufacturing & engineering
This Roundtable was hosted by chartered accountants, tax and business advisers MHA MacIntyre Hudson, with support from The Business Magazine. Interestingly, MHA McIntyre Hudson had just published its national survey results* on the manufacturing and engineering sector. We invited some expert local sector representatives to express their views and reveal our regional profile ...
Manufacturing confidence is high, but are Thames Valley companies making progress?
Participants
Kate Arnott: Partner, MHA MacIntyre Hudson
Nick Garratt: Managing director, Ercol Furniture
Richard Harrington: CEO, Buckinghamshire Thames Valley LEP
Nick Jones: Manufacturing sector specialist – relationship director, NatWest Bank
Patrick King: Tax partner, MHA MacIntyre Hudson
Julian Knight: Chief technical officer, Television Systems (TSL)
Richard Meechan: Technical director, FuelDefend Global
Chris Needham: Operations manager, South East and London Manufacturing Advisory Services (MAS)
David Murray: Managing editor and publisher of The Business Magazine, chaired the discussion
Lined up to debate: our roundtable team Journalist John Burbedge reports the roundtable highlights The answer is ‘Yes’, but…
The 2014 MHA Manufacturing and Engineering Survey highlighted some key national trends:
• Optimism: 92% of respondents predict growth in 2014
• R&D: 86% intend to invest
• Employment: 59% expect to increase staff numbers; 64% to take on apprentices or trainees
• Pricing: Many companies will absorb price increases through improved productivity and internal efficiencies
• Export: Europe remains the largest export market, but other global markets are increasingly being explored.
• ‘Red Tape’: Bureaucracy is a growing concern. Eg 36% of businesses are unsure how they will meet the costs of pension auto-enrolment.
* Download the full MHA Report at:
www.macintyrehudson.co.uk
www.businessmag.co.uk
The short Roundtable answer to that headline question was a resounding “Yes”, but with significant provisos.
Chris Needham confirmed increasing confidence among MAS business clients in the past 6-12 months, with more than half reporting a sales upturn and more than half planning to boost their staffing – “both very positive indicators.”
NatWest manufacturing specialist Nick Jones agreed. “In the past six months almost all our clients have been talking to us about investing in premises, plant and machinery, or taking on staff. There seems to be a real ‘feelgood factor’ around at present.”
High Wycombe furniture manufacturer, Nick Garratt echoed the optimism. “It was tough through the recession for our sector, but we (Ercol) have managed to grow our business in recent years, and 2014 seems set to be a significant step-change. We’ve had a very strong order intake already this year. Encouragingly, the sentiment from our B2B retail customers is very optimistic, particularly for this autumn.”
Needham added that nearly 60% of companies MAS dealt with were also stepping up their capital equipment investment. “Across the piece,
Kate Arnott
it is now happening.” One concern was long lead times for new equipment, especially with demand currently growing.
Another concern was skills, Garratt noted. Although looking to grow, and already investing in new machinery – “something we haven’t done in 15 years, and one measure of our own confidence” – Ercol was finding it challenging to recruit suitable staff.
Richard Meechan of FuelDefend Global, a worldwide leader in fuel anti-siphons and associated security solutions, was cautiously optimistic. Having business partners and clients in Europe, he knew their situation was different.
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – SEPTEMBER 2014
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