The Town Taking on China

Thrugelmir

Anybody see the programme tonight?

Worth catching up with.

princeofpounds

Nope. What was it about?

Thrugelmir

princeofpounds wrote: »

Nope. What was it about?

A precise.

Not that last night’s opening episode ever thought of itself as low-key. On the contrary. “This is the story of one small town in the north of England,” began the narrator, “and its attempt to take on the economic might of one of the fastest-growing nations in the world!” The way the programme told it, the stakes couldn’t be higher either – with nothing less than the future of Britain hanging in the balance. If the small town wins, “jobs could come back to Britain for good, and the British manufacturing lion roar once more!”
What this means in practice is that a bloke called Tony Caldeira owns a cushion factory in Kirkby, Merseyside, and another on the east coast of China, but is thinking of consolidating the business in Kirkby.

The reason behind Caldeira’s plan was surprising – to me, anyway. It turns out that Chinese workers are no longer the pushover they once were. With more jobs available than people to do them, they’re beginning to realise – like their Western counterparts a century or so ago – that being in such demand gives them power. In one scene, a woman at Caldeira’s Chinese factory threatened to go elsewhere unless she got a 50 per cent pay rise. In another, prospective employees visited the place to see if it met their requirements. They looked for all the world like parents being shown round a private school, with Caldeira as the headmaster, keen to impress.

Back in Kirkby, the situation was rather different. There, with 14 people for every vacancy, Caldeira was confident of finding employees who weren’t so picky. True to the Government’s urging, he also wanted to give local youths a chance. Before long, he’d hired 17 new workers of varying levels of enthusiasm (or as the programme preferred to call them, “troops in the battle against China’s global dominance!”). Now he just had to prove that they could make cushions better, faster and cheaper than the Chinese, and British manufacturing would apparently be saved. Meanwhile, playing Sergeant Wilson to Caldeira’s Captain Mainwaring was his right-hand man Malcolm Smith, who clearly didn’t think these gung-ho tactics were wise.

Sad to say, by the end of yesterday’s episode Smith seemed to be on to something. Within three weeks, four of the 17 had left, most by the trusty method of just not showing up any more. At which point, you might expect a lament about British laziness – except that the slackers in question had generally gone on to jobs (in call centres, for instance) that pay far higher wages for less work. There was no reason to disbelieve Caldeira’s claim that he couldn’t afford more than the minimum wage if his British factory was to compete with China. Yet in the circumstances, it was hard to blame the people who had quit. After all, what would you do?

Wookster

If its not China, then it will be Vietnam, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh that undercut the UK on prices.

PasturesNew

There was a piece on the ITV news tonight - some bloke in Devon is manufacturing those "ride on suitcases" for kids who travel. He said that things have changed, including the rise of Chinese wages and the rise in costs of transporting goods half way round the world - and he can compete (to an extent) now on price, but there are other factors to consider above price.

http://www.itv.com/news/westcountry/2012-05-09/trunki-helps-devon-factory-set-to-double-turnover/

I think the world has enough cushion covers by now anyway....

paddyrg

Labour prices can be lower overseas (no minimum wage, for instance), but there are other benefits to business - no duty on import, losing stuff at sea, able to change patterns and chase fashions faster, quality control, etc.

Thrugelmir

Wookster wrote: »

If its not China, then it will be Vietnam, Sri Lanka or Bangladesh that undercut the UK on prices.

I know of a Company based in Hongkong that currently manufactures in mainland China. They have looked at Vietnam as am option. Quality just isn't there at the moment. Different culture too. So now looking at Europe again. As majority of sales are made in USA followed by the UK. .

heathcote123

There was no reason to disbelieve Caldeira’s claim that he couldn’t afford more than the minimum wage if his British factory was to compete with China..

And there lies the problem. Someone decided that unskilled people could sit at home and watch tv while chinese people made them stuff.

Mr_Mumble

"The wages were rubbish. If you've got a house and working on minimum wage you're better off on the dole." -- The young father near the end of the programme.

Ignoring the rather silly (and I think slightly tongue-in-cheek) narration this was a very good documentary imho. No banging the viewer over the head with a specific point-of-view or telling you the same information 5 times.

One query for people in the know: jobseekers get the funds to attend interviews and the like, yes? It was awful to see the lass who has to look after her grandfather have to ask for the bus fare from the employer. We live in an !!! backwards country when OAPs can travel free - largely for recreation purposes - easily while jobseekers have to jump through hoops for the privilege.