I am writing
this month’s blog at the tail end of my summer holiday on the southernmost tip
of Spain, just 12 miles across the straits to North Africa. Such a tranquil
setting is the perfect backdrop to reflect on the busy trading season that we
are about to embark on, as well as the prospects for our industry as a whole.
The
beginning of September has brought a raft of good news stories for the global
economy and the UK in particular. Vodafone selling its American business
delivers a whopping £85 billion to shareholders, the majority of whom are in
the UK. As is the norm nowadays with multinational companies, they will be
deftly avoiding UK capital gains tax. However, an injection of liquidity on
this scale into the economy is sure to have a positive effect.
There is
further good news on the European front, as Microsoft buys Nokia for £5
billion. Even footballers are changing hands for staggering sums of money, with
the total spent by Premier League clubs in the transfer window being somewhere
north of £600 million. Rolls Royce and Bentley dealers should brace themselves
for the invasion!
Which brings
me nicely to the recent edition of BBC television’s Top Gear, which focussed on
the current state of the UK car and commercial vehicle industries. Who could
fail to be impressed by that huge fleet of British built vehicles that lined
the Mall? Clear evidence, if ever there was any doubt, that Britain is a world
class player in the automotive business once again.
To build on
this success, we need a high percentage of the billions of pounds arriving in
shareholders’ accounts to be re-invested in our manufacturing base. By creating
opportunities for well-paid and highly skilled manufacturing and engineering
jobs, we will begin to reverse the downward spiral of a low skill, low pay
economy.
The banks
also have an important role to play in this. I recently heard a respected
economist liken bankers to toddlers. They run around in an excited frenzy,
causing mayhem until they run out of energy and leave the room in a total mess.
They then lie down and pretend that none of the mess left behind was their
fault, and in any case, someone else will always clear it up for them.
The recent
troubles at the Coop Bank illustrate that there will be consequences for
banking profligacy in the future. Hopefully, this will encourage them to take a
longer term and more measured view of their actions. Whilst there will always
be a place for new shopping centres and housing developments, increased
importance must be given to new manufacturing facilities, in order to harness
the skills and talents that, as a nation, we have always possessed.
From high
value consumer products to components and sub-systems for the automotive and
aerospace industries, we still design and manufacture a great deal in the UK.
All of these products and parts require surface preparation, cleaning,
deburring, powder coating and all of the other processes that our own industry
does so well. The greater the emphasis for investors on British made goods, the
greater the benefit will be for industries like our own.
Tomorrow I
will be leaving my Spanish sojourn for the grit, grime and graft of good old
Birmingham. It is a journey that, for once, I will make with a great deal of
optimism for the months and years ahead.
