MAKE UK CONFERENCE FEBRUARY 2020
MAKING YOUR
VOICE HEARD
Make UK’s CEO, Stephen Phipson,
speaks to Manufacturing Management
about the fallout from the general
election, wider industry pressures and
the National Manufacturing Conference
BY CHRIS BECK
Stephen Phipson’s two years as CEO
of Make UK, the manufacturers’
organisation, has been dominated by
political uncertainty, Brexit pressures
and an industry on shaky ground.
However, 2020 could be the year things
pick up again. December’s election victory for
the Conservatives should signal a period of
stability and, by the time you read this, the UK’s
withdrawal from the European Union will fi nally
be underway.
When MM sat down with Phipson at Make
UK’s Westminster HQ, there was under a month
to go until one of the biggest events on the
manufacturing calendar – the Make UK National
Manufacturing Conference, being held at the
QEII Centre on Tuesday 25 February. He told us
about how the event is shaping up, and how a new
government provides the perfect opportunity to
get the industry’s voice heard in parliament.
Manufacturing Management: Will the
stability in Westminster have a positive
impact on manufacturing?
Stephen Phipson: For companies to invest,
having a majority government doesn’t help
you; what helps you is knowing what the new
arrangements are going to be. There is a real
urgency now: we left the EU at the end of January,
so we really need to know what the new terms
are going to be. If we’re not pursuing regulatory
alignment, what regulatory system are we moving
to? A lot of companies need to know that before
they invest. Typically, manufacturers work to a 10-
year investment horizon, so they do need to know
what they are aiming for. We need government
to clarify where we are going. There’s a little
bit of disappointment around the government
that industry isn’t unleashing a massive wall
of investment. However, that will only happen
once people understand where we’re going.
Manufacturers are pretty pragmatic people; they
need to see some action.
Half of the UK’s
manufacturing exports go
to the EU, so whether we’re
in alignment or not those
manufacturers have to follow
EU regulations. They don’t
want to have two sets of
regulations to follow. When
the Chancellor talks about not
being in regulatory alignment,
manufacturers actually will be
because they can’t sell to the EU
unless they’re have a CE mark,
which is a European standard.
Similarly, what becomes of the
Reach chemicals arrangements
or all the other hundreds of
frameworks that we use to
manufacture goods in this
country? There’s a lot to think
about. Of course, nothing is
changing for the next 11 months
or so. For government, there’s
Stephen Phipson
(right) became
CEO of Make UK
in early 2017
been no ‘cliff edge’ looming. But
we have to work really quickly
through the next few months
to try and establish what these
rules are going to be.
MM: Are there other
pressures currently
a ecting the industry?
SP: The global economic
downturn is impacting exports.
In Europe, we have seen some
pretty poor economic indicators
in places like Germany, which
is directly aff ecting us in the
UK. There are about 300,000
manufacturing businesses of all
shapes and sizes in the UK, and
140,000 of them export to the
EU. For them, any blip in the
European market would be a
diffi cult thing to cope with.
The struggles of the
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