INTERVIEW


A goldenage new


By his own admission, the Britain Juergen Maier first encountered in 1974 was a very different one to the Britain he now calls home. Born in Germany with Austrian heritage, Juergen, who


now heads up the UK arm of one of the world’s largest manufacturing and engineering companies in Siemens, arrived in Britain as a ten-year-old unable to speak a word of English. Besides the obvious challenges any child would face


arriving in a new and unfamiliar country, Juergen also points to an initial feeling of disappointment in relation to his adopted country. It was this sense of disappointment, however, that would provide the motivation to make a difference in the years to come. “From the day I arrived in this country I felt that sense of disappointment at what I saw as Britain having lost its mojo and the recollection of witnessing the industrial decline happening around me has driven me on ever since,” he explains. “To be in the position I am now is an absolute delight, to


be part of what I see as a manufacturing revolution with Britain becoming an industrially-focused nation again is very exciting.” The East Midlands continues to be a heartland of


Britain’s manufacturing and engineering activity, with the region’s reputation for innovation and making things well established. It’s also a region that Juergen enjoys a close affinity to, following his time at Chamber member Nottingham Trent University, and he believes that the East Midlands has a big part to play. “One of my highlights was going to Nottingham Trent


University,” he recalls. “I had grown up in Leeds and Leeds really was in quite a


bad decline at the time. I remember coming to Nottingham as an 18-year-old and the city to me seemed to be reinventing itself. It was one of the first cities to invest in infrastructure; for example I remember the tram system arriving and to me it was a bit like looking at a city that was starting to look like a modern city again. “The great thing about the manufacturing revolution


we’re seeing is that it presents an opportunity to rebalance our economy, in two dimensions. One is to make more things and export more but also, just as importantly, to make sure it is driven out of the Midlands and the North.


36 business network April 2018


for manufacturing


Innovation is helping to drive a manufacturing and engineering revolution worldwide. Siemens UK CEO Juergen Maier spoke to Business Network Editor Nathan Fearn about how Britain’s rediscovered love affair with the sector could hold the key to to its future success.


“This is a great opportunity to not only grow the existing


great manufacturing operations – Siemens has a brilliant site here in the East Midlands for example – but also to grow new companies; for example Nottingham Trent University is establishing a new engineering school and it is really exciting times there from both a research and skills perspective to support a new phase of manufacturing.” That new phase, born out of advancements that Britain,


and indeed the world, continues to experience is a case of cause and effect. The effect is an ever-changing, innovative world, while the cause lies undoubtedly in an explosion of manufacturing and engineering activity and progress. However it is the pace of that change and progress that


is particularly telling to Juergen. “The sector and landscape has changed beyond all


recognition,” he argues. “It’s the pace of change that’s so noticeable, especially in


the past five years, and that’s what I think is so impressive. “In the 25 years I had previously spent in the industry, I


think the manufacturing sector had been innovating and driving productivity through advances such as Six Sigma (a set of techniques and tools for process improvement


ABOVE: Juergen Maier, UK CEO at Siemens


LEFT: The manufacturing sector has revolutionised operations and harnessed the power of the digital world


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68