made in britain...

Radiantsoul

Mr_Mumble wrote: »

Back to China! The, relatively, easy GDP growth of shifting rice farmers to Foxconn assemblers and catching up with the developed world has to stop eventually of course. Agree that the 'luxuries' of more vocation time and societal safety nets can drag on growth they needn't do so imho, it depends on governance when China gets wealthier.

This is a slightly political point: I don't see the Chinese spending more on foreign aid than it does its own transport infrastructure (Britain will be in this category next year when you include EU payments with the foreign aid target of 0.7%). I don't see the huge disincentives to industry via energy/green taxes happening in China that has closed down Britain's aluminum industry and is threatening to do the same with steel*. On issues from trade to agricultural subsidies I see China as at least the equal of the west and often in a superior position economically. China doesn't have the same dogmatic historic interests that stifle economic growth. Yes, this is a bizarre thing to say of a notionally 'Communist' government!

Many of the drags on British industry at the moment are not from bottom up demands of the populous but grandiose designs by political elites who enforce vast costs on consumers and business.

China is a country that implemented a one-child policy, presumably quite a drag on future growth for a country that relies on lots of very low cost labour. So the idea that China'e government will not act on environmental issues seems wrong. China has signed up to most of the big environmental treaties.

Rochdale_Pioneers

Of course we still make things! But in some cases we no longer make some things having thrown our industry in the bin.

The latest one teetering on the edge is the manufacture of trains. Until privatisation we had an industry which had a thriving R&D operation and sold innovative products to the world. Then we had 3 years of no new train orders and closed most of the factories. The last one is in Derby - no R&D of course as investment in unproven new technology is bad for the quarterly reports - and thanks to a combination of another 3 year gap in orders and the new Thameslink contract going to Siemens, we're likely to see this final factory close.

But don't worry! Hitachi Europe are going to build new trains up here in the North East. Well, when I say "build" they are going to construct the vehicle bodies in Japan, ship them here and merely fit them out here. So not the same thing at all.

fc123

fab programme....just took an hour out to wsatch it now.
The link is here .

Apart from the content, I really liked the presenting style too.

Below is a quoted from subscription only trade paper Drapers, which makes similar points to those made in the show re;clothing though Berwins didn't suggest moving any production back here at all. The bulk of theor business is to high st retailers (under own label) and suits aren't 'fast fashion' so the longer lead isn't an issue for them.

Rising cost of sourcing in Far East and heritage trend trigger huge increase in orders for British factories.


UK manufacturers are experiencing the green shoots of a renaissance as brands and retailers spurn overseas suppliers, deeming them costly and of poorer quality in relative terms.


The spiralling costs of freight and the labour shortage in territories such as China and India, as well as unreliable production quality and growing lead times, are closing the cost gap between UK and overseas manufacturers and making the UK manufacture of mid-market product a commercially viable option for the first time in more than 20 years.
N Brown-owned JD Williams Group has called for UK suppliers to work with the home-shopping giant to boost its UK manufacturing base. It will hold an open day to meet with UK suppliers at Leicester City Football Club on February 10.


Linda Quinn, trading director for womenswear at JD Williams, said: “We always had a small level of UK manufacturing, but the issues in the Far East forced us to explore options closer to home. The cost gap is closing. It is still significant, but [it’s a trade-off] against speed to market and how much we need to buy.”

Lead times on orders from the Far East and Indian subcontinent have grown as demand from domestic markets rises, rioting in countries such as Bangladesh disrupts production and freight capacity remains below demand.


An order from the Far East that would have typically taken about 15 weeks to deliver this time last year now takes 18 weeks. Lead times in the UK are between six and 10 weeks, depending on whether the fabric is sourced here or from overseas.

Despite the advantages of securing lower prices for high-volume orders with overseas manufacturers, retailers and brands using UK manufacturers on shorter lead times can take more risks on product, testing low volumes and amending designs in response to customer feedback and placing repeat orders in season - helping boost full price sell-throughs.

John Wilson, executive vice-president of manufacturing at footwear brand New Balance, which has a factory in Cumbria and which grew its UK manufacturing by 20% last year, said: “The ability to replenish stocks in season on short lead times is fast becoming an integral part of high street retailers’ survival kit, while the ‘Made in Britain’ cachet, coupled with product quality, has provided remarkable export successes.”


Pan Philippou, chief executive of lifestyle brand Ben Sherman, said: “I looked at manufacturing some items out of Portugal and, when they came through, the cost was so [high] I may as well have made them in the UK.”
The return to the UK has also been helped by the trend for heritage styles, and the need for retailers to offer premium details on product in order to justify price hikes.


Fabrics supplier Harris Tweed Hebrides increased turnover 50% last year, partly thanks to demand from UK retailers and brands including its Topshop collaboration last year.


Its creative director Mark Hogarth said: “Companies that would not have wanted to pay more than £10 a metre for fabric are now willing to exceed that because of the perceived increase in value [which allows them to increase the retail price]. The difference between high street and designer [offers] has blurred.”


Henry Butler, production manager for premium menswear brand Nigel Cabourn, which sources all of its product in the UK, said: “It is still massively cheaper to manufacture in the Far East than the UK, in bulk and volume, but the trend for heritage has improved [the UK’s] position enormously. The Made in Britain label has a strong cachet now, especially in the US and Japan. Labels like Nigel Cabourn and Margaret Howell are enormous in Japan and a major part of that is the Made in Britain label.”
A production source said heritage brands such as Barbour and Hackett, which had shifted substantial amounts of their production overseas, were “sniffing around the UK again” and had already upped their orders with some UK factories.


Many supply businesses that have contracted over the past decade are at their production capacity as a result of renewed demand, and are recruiting additional staff.

Cashmere specialist Todd & Duncan is back in profit and is to increase its 200-strong staff by 10% this year. Hawick Knitwear, another cashmere specialist, wants to up its 200-strong workforce by a similar percentage.
The major issue will be whether UK garment manufacturing will be able to cope with increased demand.

Kent shirtmaker Rayner & Sturges trebled its revenues in 2010 and grew its staff from 65 to 135. It aims to have 260 staff by the end of this year, although owner Boyd Bowman said he could not recruit quickly enough.
“We keep adding staff,” he said. “It’s not a problem getting orders, it’s getting people to make them. There are no crafts anymore. Kids today want to go into IT and retail. We advertise weekly and just hope some of the people who were working 25 years ago [when manufacturing went offshore] will come back.

fc123

....and below is another quote from this weeks Drapers about the raids in Leicester.

I use a small unit in Leicester (all well above board) and the owner used to complain about the dodgier places being able to undercut him due to hiring cheaper labour (illegal).

I have been inside a unit that was accredited and making for a known hight st retailer. I have no idea if everyone working there was legal but I chose not to work with it for a variety of other reasons.

The low value manufacturers still struggle to make it pay but the UK High st now demands such huge margin (due to the high costs to trade....rent, rates and wages) that making 'basics' over here still isn't really viable in my view.

Four out of 12 fashion and textile manufacturers spot-checked by the UK Border Agency have been found to be employing illegal workers in Leicester, in what is a huge blow to the reputation of the resurgent British manufacturing industry.



Some 33 out of 80 workers at companies based at Leicester’s Imperial Typewriter Building in East Park Road were found to be illegal immigrants, after one of the largest-ever raids conducted in the Midlands, which took place earlier this month.

Four fashion firms - Button Master, Traffic Fashion, Glamorous Designs and KGN Fashions - were found to have hired illegal workers and are facing fines of up to £10,000 per illegal employee unless they can prove the correct pre-employment checks were carried out.
The bust follows a similar raid by the UK Border Agency on Fiaz Clothing in Leicester last month, where 14 staff were found to be illegal. Fiaz Clothing faces a fine of up to £140,000.

These latest raids highlight one of the biggest issues faced by the UK manufacturing industry. Several legitimate UK factories have complained to Drapers via the Save Our Skills (SOS) campaign that the reputation of their businesses had been damaged by media coverage of back street firms employing illegal workers. These factories have called for the fashion industry to join forces to come up with a way to regulate or provide “approval ratings” for British manufacturers.

The UK Border Agency said it would remove the 33 workers, 26 men and seven women from Pakistan and India, from the country as soon as possible.

It is unclear what the four fashion companies were manufacturing or who their customers were. None could be contacted for comment as Drapers went to press.

Mr_Mumble

Radiantsoul wrote: »

China is a country that implemented a one-child policy, presumably quite a drag on future growth for a country that relies on lots of very low cost labour. So the idea that China'e government will not act on environmental issues seems wrong. China has signed up to most of the big environmental treaties.

China still has 'positive' population growth 30 years after the one child policy's introduction. Most of this may be down to people living longer but I'd suggest its partly down to many ignoring the rule. A fine is not much of a disincentive to the middle classes and there are many ways round the edict.

Being a signatory to an agreement when it doesn't impact you e.g. Kyoto, isn't meaningful. Actions such as this however:

China blocks billion-dollar Airbus order

China has blocked a multi-billion dollar order for 10 Airbus superjumbo aircraft in a sharp escalation of Beijing’s protests against Europe’s plan to bring international airlines into its emissions trading scheme from the start of next year.

A Hong Kong Airlines order for the planes worth $3.8bn at list prices was due to be formally announced at the Paris air show earlier this week, according to industry executives familiar with the deal.

But Airbus, a division of the European aerospace group, EADS, learned over the weekend that the agreement was being blocked by Beijing and the announcement did not go ahead, the sources said.

are troubling.

calrest

What is made in britain? Definitely Vodafone is a gret British icon in business.