MARCH 2020 MAKE UK CONFERENCE
Whether this comes to pass
remains to be seen. What
Neil was sure about, however,
was that the ‘blue collar
conservatism’ that has come
about will make the next fi ve
years a good time to be an
employee. “The Conservatives
are in the process of branding
themselves as the party against
low wages,” he said. “So when
you, as business leaders,
complain about tougher controls
on migration, you’ll be told to
raise the amount you pay, or
to automate more. If there’s
one message this blue colour
conservatism wants to get
through, it is that the era of
business depending on low
wages is over.”
Athletics legend, Lord
Sebastian Coe (pictured,
right) then took to the stage
to explore how his success
can be translated to a business
environment. Coe told the
engaging story of how father,
Peter, an engineer in Sheffi eld,
took on the role of coaching
his son to Olympic glory. “His
engineering background gave
him a numbers-based approach
to analytics that is commonplace
now, but at the time was
revolutionary,” Coe regaled.
Coe Snr also recognised the
benefi t of building a team. “He
was adamant that if you want to
be world-class, you need worldclass
people around you – and
then you must trust them,” said
Coe. “This forensic obsession
with detail is something that
applies equally to a successful
organisation: create a vision and
understand why you get out of
bed in the morning. Above all
else, though, back your instincts
and you will succeed.”
Finally, making his public
debut following the shock
resignation of his predecessor
during the cabinet reshuffl e,
came the Secretary of State for
Business, Environment and
Industrial Strategy, Alok Sharma.
Sharma is also set to chair the
landmark COP26 conference,
the UN environmental summit
that is being held in Glasgow
in November. The Secretary
of State used his time on stage
to outline how both his roles
are complementary, and “will
put the UK at the forefront of
climate change and clean
energy research.”
Industry 4.0, too, has a role
to play in both improving
Nearly 1,000
delegates from
across the
sector attended
the event in
Westminster
sustainability and bridging the productivity gap. To
this end, Sharma outlined a new government-wide
focus on skills, with a pledge for three million new
apprenticeship places, “specifi cally around smart
technologies.” The success of the Made Smarter
pilot programme in the North West has led to
calls to roll the initiative out nationwide. Sharma
refused to be pushed on this, instead saying that
“a high-productivity economy is the aim, with a
national levelling-up of industry at its core.”
“Rest assured, the government remains
supportive to manufacturing and sees it as key
to delivering the type of economy that we want,”
concluded Sharma.
Whether Sharma’s vision of a sector at the heart
of a digital-focused economy, or Neil’s post-supply
chain world come to pass remains to be seen.
What is defi nitely the case, though, is that political
stability has seen a renewed boost to the sector –
something that was palpable amongst the delegates
in the room.
www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk 39
/www.manufacturingmanagement.co.uk