SEPTEMBER 2017 COVER STORY
they make will waste a lot of hard work that has
come before.”
In addition, last year all Boeing employees
paid a visit to the company’s plants in the US.
Here, they saw wing assembly in Portland and
final 737 production in Renton. “We stood them
next to a line that doesn’t stop, and makes two
or three completed aircraft per day,” continues
Needham. “It was made clear that if we stop in
Sheffield, it has a knock-on effect in Renton –
and that’s a big deal!”
A coup for UK manufacturing?
UK manufacturing has received a fair amount
of negative press in recent months, with news
of job cuts, stockpiling and falling confidence
dominating headlines. Does the presence of two
world-class manufacturers indicate a renaissance
for the industry?
Nic Aoidh says that this isn’t necessarily the
case. “UK manufacturing has always been strong,”
she says. “We’re seeing a focus towards high-tech,
innovative manufacturing as opposed to creating
volume. People are beginning to realise that we’re
good at making things in the UK, and that it’s a
growing, evolving sector. Of course, things like this
the factory opening have always happened, it’s
just that nobody knew about it.”
It’s important to remember that the decision
to open both the Boeing and McLaren sites was
made before the Brexit vote. As Morgan says, “it’s
testament to both companies that neither has been
affected by all the uncertainty that has followed.”
Indeed, for McLaren, the company is committed
to the UK for the long-term. “We’re a UK company,
based solely in this country,” says Nic Aoidh. “We
know what that entails, and it means we won’t be
jumping ship to other sites in the US or Germany
if the going gets tough. The option isn’t there.”
The success of the AMRC in attracting
world-class manufacturers to Sheffield is the
dawning of a brand new chapter in the region’s
industrial story.
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