manufacturing survey 41 Employment
Almost three quarters of respondents have a problem finding staff. 32% cannot find experienced engineers and almost a quarter of respondents have trouble finding other types of skills. The biggest problem is the shortage of applicants with relevant skills, with 52% picking this as their top reason.
If you have trouble recruiting, what are the reasons?
Research and development Tax partner, Patrick King
Research and development is fundamental to the engineering and manufacturing sectors. It was therefore good to see that 79% of those surveyed re-invest a percentage of their turnover into R&D. It is critical for a business to re-invest if they wish to remain competitive, not only in the UK and eurozone markets but on a global scale. However, only 61% of those surveyed said they will be applying for R&D tax credits.
It is clear that with 17% still unfamiliar with what
Excluding new apprentices or trainees, in the next 12 months do you anticipate your staff numbers will:
R&D tax credits are, more needs to be done to ensure that businesses are familiar with the Government initiatives that can help support them. For example, the Patent Box scheme was introduced in 2013 to reward businesses that innovate and protect their intellectual property (IP) by way of a patent. Awareness of the scheme has increased year-on-year with 65% now having some awareness. Following pressure from the EU the scheme is being modified and will close to new entrants by June 30, 2016, however, existing participants will still be eligible to benefit from the considerable tax breaks through to 2021.
What percentage of your turnover do you spend on R&D?
The EU question
In terms of whether we should remain within the EU a large majority agree that we should, albeit that almost 60% feel it should be on renegotiated terms.
Kate Arnott, head of manufacturing at MHA MacIntyre Hudson in High Wycombe
This MHA Manufacturing and Engineering Survey provides a valuable insight into the challenges facing a sector with considerable growth potential, but one also struggling to recruit the skilled people needed to help deliver plans for growth. The number of people entering the sector has been steadily falling for over 40 years and 800,000 skilled workers are due to retire over the next 10 years.
Between 1990 and 2010 the UK experienced a decline in the number of apprenticeship
programmes; however, our survey indicates that 56% of respondents are hiring up to six apprentices in 2015. It is critical that these apprentices work alongside skilled employees to ensure that there is knowledge sharing and dissemination in terms of practical and soft skills. However, 44% are not planning on taking on any apprentices and it would be interesting to understand the reasons.
While there are hopeful signs for the future, we also need to do more to improve careers advice and skills training within the education system if we are to inspire and attract the next generation into manufacturing and engineering.
Also worth noting, is that for the UK to compete on a global scale we need investment in technology, equipment and processes as these will improve our capability, productivity and profitability. Productivity is a popular topic among our clients and manufacturers are not alone in thinking about how they can improve this. 49% of businesses are planning to improve their productivity rather than passing on price increases to customers, meaning they will have to review business processes and production lines for efficiencies.
Our survey revealed that 62% export and of those, 36% found exporting assistance from the Government useful. Only 4% have looked to re-shore production to the UK, with 5% saying that they have offshored in the past 12 months. This would suggest that there continues to be a net outflow of manufacturing capacity. In terms of re-shoring, the biggest single reason was to improve quality control (32%). Offshoring businesses cited cutting production cost (50%) ahead of volume improvements (18%) as their rationale.
MHA MacIntyre Hudson is a leading accountancy and business advisory firm, keen to support the renaissance of UK manufacturing and engineering. The firm sponsors the The Business Magazine's Southern Manufacturing 100 to recognise and celebrate the quality, enthusiasm and diversity of the sector.
If you would like to discuss any aspect of the survey or would like a complimentary copy, email:
kate.arnott@
mhllp.co.uk or visit
www.macintyrehudson.co.uk
THE BUSINESS MAGAZINE – THAMES VALLEY – NOVEMBER 2015
www.businessmag.co.uk
Export, re-shoring and offshoring Where do you currently export to? (multiple responses included)
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