Following recent encouraging European growth figures for the Electrical, Electronics and Instruments (EEI) sector, BEAMA and GAMBICA have called on all major UK parties to ensure the next Government sets policies in place that can see the UK compete for equivalent, if not stronger success.
Across Europe, EEI manufacturing experienced 1.7% growth in 2014 with an estimated 1.9% forecast for 2015 according to the leading manufacturing association in Brussels, Orgalime. This is strong data for a sector that has a €625bn turnover and employs 2.5m people across the EU.
But Dr Howard Porter, CEO of BEAMA, has laid down a challenge to all parties to keep their eye on the ball for sustained growth after the election and stated, “Our continued involvement in the EU is imperative to success of course, and this view is shared by many leading industrialists. However, there is still much work to be done in the UK as we call on the future Government to work together with EEI manufacturers to encourage a better public procurement framework for all companies, but in particular SMEs and a commitment to invest in the smart energy infrastructure that is integral to our future energy security.”
Picking up on the theme of policies for UK growth, Dr Graeme Philp, CEO of GAMBICA added, “At the heart of manufacturing growth lies investment; not just capital investment in facilities and plant equipment but also investment in people. Through our work with the Government chaired sector strategy organisation ESCO, we have made valuable inroads into encouraging new people into our industry through the development of a degree level apprenticeship support programme, but this is just the beginning. We want the next Government to work with us to put technology and engineering at the forefront of education policy. Our joint BEAMA/GAMBICA manifesto lays out our priority areas for working with Government and we will be pushing these hard throughout the next Government work programme and beyond to keep our sector on the right track for growth.”
