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Blimey this thread has kept trundling along hasn't it...
Seeing as this is a bike forum maybe the focus of this discussion should be limited to that particular business ~50% of posters have kept their focus on the "British Cycle industry" where others have tried to consider all UK industries in one fell swoop, focusing on the one area we all have a common interesst and knowledge of would probably help the debate, the bike industry could easily be considered a nice tidy little example of wider UK business activities anyway...
With that in mind I think you have to look at how "UK based" cycling companies operate and sell themselves both here and abroad.
We have a reasonable cycling "Soft goods" industry the likes of Endura, Altura, Royal, Rapha, Howies all with UK origins (I think) with varying degrees of UK and Eastern manufacturing and different UK and Global market presence, overall a healthy sector I think, with a reasonable Turnover.
UK based Frame and/or Bike companies, here the UK primarily follows the "Design/Develop in the UK - import/distribute finished goods from overseas" model. there are notable exceptions, Orange being the most widely mentioned, Pace maybe (DT owned though) as well as various custom builders but of course these all tend to be High cost, low volume producers, yes by manufacturing in the UK some jobs are created, but I do think it's a little shortsighted to accuse the likes of DMR, On-one and Saracen of not contributing to our economy simply for not manufacturing here, they are still UK companies competing in quite a different market; creating jobs in design, marketing, distribution, etc, and of course paying their taxes in the UK, and ultimately taking the odd sale and derived revenue away from the likes of Giant, Specialized, etc in the US and elsewhere....
General Components, I'd separate this off from other areas of the Cycling industry as the Global OEM and aftermarket components markets are Massive, the LIkes of SRAM and Shimano are the obvious big players, Drivetrain, Brakes, suspension units, and control/"Finishing" components are probably worth far more as a market world wide than complete Bikes or premium frames and sadly the UK has relatively little presence there, We have Hope which plenty of people have mentioned them, but Yet again it's High Price point, Low Volume manufactuer, primarily focused on the higer end of Aftermarket purchasers... Not much OEM presence, I can't think of many other companies, USE perhaps, Middleburn?...
It's not that these companies have a bad business model, it works quite well for them, but the biggest chunk of these markets are largely sewn up by the Yanks (SRAM) and Japanese (Shimano). so yet again we don't do Volume and we ignore what seems like a pretty key, lower price point segments - IMO to our detriment...
Do we actually [I]need[/I] more UK based Manufaturers of Bike frames? I would say no, the number of companies already servicing this market globally is very high. I think the UK cycling industry should look to expand in what you might call "Build Kit" all the parts sought for OEM assembly, basically get in the mix and challenge SRAM and Shimano on their "Home Turf" at the various Price and Function breaks. There are a couple of companies already managing to do this to a certain extent, Microshift? Campag,Hayes, Formula, but I think theres room for another couple in this market, possibly the Fork/suspension products market too, I see no reason why the next big supplier of such products shouldn't be UK based... There is a growing market we have the knowedge and resources.
Benfeh has a v interesting perspective. The rest of the world have a far higher respect for UK-produced goods than we give ourselves credit for. We're still one of the richest countries in the world - how do you think that's happened if other countries aren't buying our stuff?
Evan Davies: our sectors of strength in manufacturing are in small, hi-tech, high margin.
Not being mass-produced means the general population is less likely to be consumers of these things and therefore aware they exist and are highly valued elsewhere.
The point he made was that the UK industrialised first and then moved into services first. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, if anything we're the pioneers and ahead of the rest of the world.
We're one of the most advanced countries in terms of e-commerce, and as has been stated, TV, music, art, theatre, fashion etc, all world class. Don't forget tourism either. London is a very desirable place to be for the rest of the world.
From Wikipedia;
In 2008, the UK was the sixth-largest manufacturer in the world measured by value of output.
From The Telegraph
Manufacturing still accounts for a surprisingly large amount of the economy – about 12pc, a larger share than financial services' 9pc. People find this surprising, because they do not come across many UK-manufactured products in their daily lives
we need to play to our strengths to thrive and survive. Most people old enough to have used mass-produced UK goods in the 60's and 70's say it was cr@p. Don't see the rationale for keeping at it if we do it badly
One of the pies my fingers are in is the manufacture of instruments used in the pharmaceutical and medical field. I and my investors initially drafted a proposal to take over a mothballed factory (the old LG plant in Newport South Wales). Even with government grants and subsidised rates for the first three years, we couldn't make the numbers work.
Now we have a plant in Malaysia providing 350 jobs for local people (direct employment, many other jobs have also been created indirectly), but none of the money they earn comes anywhere near the UK economy.
I would much prefer to be able to say our products are Made In Britain, and provide jobs and tax income for the UK directly, but it's just too expensive for us to run a manufacturing company here 🙁
The problem is further compounded by any startups who want to enter the market - everyone else is manufacturing in cheap labour markets, so they invariably have to do the same in order to survive.
"...some UK made Starrett ones and you could drill a hundred holes before wearing them out."
Another Scottish Borders product, from Jedburgh.
Macavity - Member"...some UK made Starrett ones and you could drill a hundred holes before wearing them out."
Another Scottish Borders product, from Jedburgh.
I have some Starret micrometers etc. and although they have a place in Jedburgh Starret is an American company and afaik most of the precision stuff is made over there.
Edit, found on Google
Manufactures band saw blades, power tool accessories and optical measuring projectors.
No drills
[url= http://www.fastcompany.com/1773403/made-in-china-the-3-that-would-save-our-economy ]Only 3% of what you buy is made in China, but it's the most important 3%[/url]
American centred article, but interesting reading.