JANUARY 2020 MAKE UK CONFERENCE
Christopher
Nieper says that
the enviroment
and skills crises
should take
centre stage
Keynote speakers
from the worlds
of industry and
sport are also
on the bill
How can events like
the National Manufacturing Conference
help address these concerns?
Events like the National Manufacturing
Conference help address these concerns by
raising the profi le of the manufacturing sector
and helping us all work together to share
resources and knowledge.
Why should manufacturers attend
the conference?
By attending the National Manufacturing
Conference, you will help advance the industry
by bringing us all together to share experiences,
network and collaborate. We can always learn
something from each other.
What is your hope for the future of
the industry?
UK manufacturing can still lead the way in the
world. Ongoing political events emphasise the
need to get out into new markets and show what
we can do. That’s the way to create real value
and allow long-term investment in high-quality
manufacturing jobs and skills.
Christopher Nieper, managing director,
David Nieper Ltd
Workshop: Tackling the Talent Pipeline
Tell us more about you and the company
David Nieper is a British fashion designer and
manufacturer with 300 staff . It’s a family business,
located in Alfreton, Derbyshire. One of the major
employers in the area for almost 60 years, the
company has fi ve factories in the town including
fashion separates, fabric cutting,
knitwear, catalogue print, and
textile print. The company
also sponsors David Nieper
Academy, the town’s secondary
school for 850 pupils.
What, for you, is the most
pressing concern facing
manufacturing in the UK?
The practise of off shoring,
which started in the 1970s has
left the British textile industry
with two major problems.
Firstly, off shoring has
contributed signifi cantly to the
global environmental crisis:
off shoring production means
off shoring pollution.
To safeguard the future
of the plant and preserve
natural resources, the entire
industry needs to adopt sound
environmental practises,
including using renewable
energy and being zero waste.
Re-shoring is a signifi cant
move in the right direction. Our
study with the University of
Nottingham’s Energy Innovation
and Collaboration team, showed
that UK manufacturing is 47%
less harmful to the environment
than manufacturing off shore.
This stands to reason,
considering how far goods travel
in the production process. As an
industry we can become more
sustainable by removing at least
some of these journeys to be
gentler on the environment. Our
industry needs to be responsible
not only for their own
operations, but also for their
supply chains. At David Nieper
we do as much as possible
in-house – knitwear, catalogue
printing, garment cutting and
next year we will open our fi fth
factory to print fabrics.
The second biggest threat
to the industry is the skills
shortage. Off shoring has also
created a national skills defi cit:
jobs have gone overseas,
skills have been lost and now
we struggle to fi nd skilled
dressmakers in the UK.
At David Nieper we are
addressing this through training
and education. We are involved
in education at every level and
are the fi rst UK fashion
business to have established
an Education Trust and sponsor
a school. The David Nieper
Academy is a secondary school
for up to 850 students, off ering
a unique formula for the worlds
of business and education to
work together.
How can events like the
National Manufacturing
Conference help address
these concerns?
The National Manufacturing
Conference provides a fantastic
platform to air and raise
awareness of both the issues
and opportunities that aff ect the
whole manufacturing industry.
Why should manufacturers
attend the conference?
The event off ers essential time
out to connect with the wider
industry. It is an opportunity to
exchange ideas, keep abreast of
new technologies, pool resources
and create a strategic steer
through industry-wide issues.
What is your hope for the
future of the industry?
Wouldn’t it be fantastic for the
UK once again to be a leader
of manufacturing on the world
stage? We have the creativity and
the ingenuity – we need to work
in partnership with education to
help re-skill our nation and drive
a manufacturing renaissance.
Registration for the Make
UK National Manufacturing
Conference, taking place on
Tuesday 25 February at the
QEII Exhibition Centre in
London, closes at the end of
January 2020. Tickets are priced
at £299 for Make UK members,
and £399 for non-members.
For a full speaker line-up
and more information, visit
https://bit.ly/2tgXfma.
www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk 35
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