New data shows erosion now real in UK manufacturing lifeblood

The UK''s core manufacturing lifeblood, in terms of high tech production equipment and industrial engineering expertise, is finally in real decline.

Although more than 350,000 jobs and 2,000 factories have disappeared since the year 2000 - and that fall-off is accelerating - until recently the core industrial strength had held up. But no more.

This is chief among worrying findings contained in a new report from Benchmark Research. Its data, hitherto unpublished, comes from Findlay Publications, which has conducted a rolling 24-month census of manufacturing
for the last 22 years. The data shows that although lower level manufacturing jobs have been being exported abroad, Britain''s technical expertise and capacity had remained largely intact over the past five years, although manufacturing systems and supply chain relationships have been redefined in that period.

However, it also reveals that during 2002 this stability has started to seriously erode, and the report concludes that lack of market confidence will inevitably impact on UK manufacturing industry''s prospects for 2003 and beyond, regardless of short-term economic cycles.

The report, which covers sites and overall employment data in considerable detail, confirms but also updates and substantively adds to five years of figures from the National Office of Statistics. It measures UK engineering
capability and capacity by tracking totals for the universe of qualified engineers, as well as measuring the installed base of conventional and high tech (CNC) machine tools annually from 1997 to 2002.

This is reliable and conclusive data. Findlay Publications continuously collects its data for updating journal circulations and for assisting other organisations, including the Government''s DTI and DfES, to understand and
communicate with manufacturers. It submits its records annually for verification by the Audit Bureau of Circulations.

We talk to over 100,000 people across 40,000 different sites to create what is in fact a census, not a survey, of British manufacturing, and we maintain records over time for each and every address, says chairman, Bob Findlay.
We are now making the data freely available to economists, academics, analysts and journalists, because other data sources don''t seem to agree on what is happening to UK manufacturing.

We hope that the clarity of our information will switch the focus from arguing over the facts, to taking action to preserve and build on this national core strength which is the essence of our international competitiveness.

For further information and/or a free copy of the full report, contact Carole Mortlock cmortlock@findlay.co.uk