Public believes manufacturing is critical to the UK economy

28 September, 2023

Perceptions about pay working conditions and career prospects have also undergone a massive transformative change for the better, according to the survey Perceptions vs Reality carried out by Savanta and Make UK, the manufacturers’ organisation and Sheffield Hallam University.

When the British public were last surveyed five years ago the story was bleak. People cited negative media coverage, and an overall feeling that Britain didn’t “make things any more”. But now, 93% say they feel manufacturing is critical to growing the UK economy, compared with just 70% five years ago.

The turning point was Covid. Automotive makers built ventilators for our NHS, clothing and textile companies repurposed to make medical gowns and facemasks while food and drink factories made hand sanitisers and ensured our essential household needs were met. Britain’s pharmaceutical companies led the way in producing the game-changing vaccines that let life return to normal.

The positive press coverage generated during Covid shifted perceptions, leaving behind a realisation of the importance of Britain’s industrial base. Now parents see manufacturing as a high skilled, high tech and high wage sector. The average food and drink quality manager in the South East typically earns £61k while a purchasing manager in Yorkshire and the Humber will take home an average of £51k, 9% above the national average.

Far from being in decline, the UK is home to two of the top ten global pharma companies (GSK and AstraZeneca), one in five jet engines in service across the world are made by Rolls Royce and manufactured in the UK, six out of ten of top Formula One Grand Prix teams have their advanced manufacturing base in the UK and it ranks third in the world for aerospace manufacturing by value. The UK is also the largest destination for space investment after the US, projected to account for 10% of the global space market by 2030.

The gender divide was stark in 2018 when nearly a quarter of parents (24%) would encourage their son to work in manufacturing, this fell to just 14% for daughters. But through innovative outreach work and campaigns by manufacturing companies to encourage girls into engineering and manufacturing, now 36% of mums and dads would be happy for their daughters to work in the sector, while 44% of parents would encourage boys to work in manufacturing.

Five years ago, the public guessed the UK was 56th in the world ranking of manufacturing nations, the position occupied by Kazakhstan. This time they were a little more accurate putting Britain at 43rd spot, the position held by the UAE. The UK is actually ranked 8th in the world, up one place in from 9th in 2018.