I’m not a Brexiteer. My two feet are planted firmly in the Remain camp, as the business case for staying in supported a much healthier alternative for our company, Brandauer, one of the UK’s leading independent precision stampers.
However, I’m not a politician. I’m a UK manufacturer and we have achieved great things by making the best out of the cards we are dealt. That could be the global crash of 2009, MG Rover collapsing or even Covid, which none of us saw coming.
While Brexit hasn’t delivered the broad economic benefits we were promised, it has presented some opportunities for SME exporters that are nimble, innovative and offer competitive advantages that international rivals can’t match.
Since we left the EU in 2020, reshoring opportunities have risen 20 percent and we’ve secured over £2million of new business in France, the Netherlands and Slovakia – delivering millions of components for use in several automotive electronic applications, pharmaceutical products and industrial plumbing fittings.
It’s quite a diverse portfolio, but one that shares similar traits – the need for high-tolerance, difficult-to-make parts in large volumes, made using precision micro tooling that delivers repeatable quality.
This new work joins a list of everyday items we play a key role in making at our state-of-the-art factory in Newtown, on the edge of the Jewellery Quarter in the heart of Birmingham. We started life 161 years ago, manufacturing pen nibs for some of the world’s most important people and that ingenuity continues today.
If you’ve made a cup of tea this morning, we have made the electronic connectors that power more than 90 percent of the world’s kettles. If you’ve not been glared by a trailing car due to a self-dimming mirror, that one is on us too.
We’re also ramping up stainless steel frames for global gents grooming products and we continue to make hundreds of millions of nose clips used in face masks.
Innovation and diversification are part of our DNA and they continue to be important weapons in post-Brexit Britain.
Electrification is one of the most exciting races of modern times and the UK is in a very attractive position. There is an immense amount of work going on behind the scenes when it comes to developing supply chain capacity and new technologies that will power, steer and sustainably improve the driving experience.
We’ve seen this first-hand thanks to our involvement in consortiums with Jaguar Land Rover, Ricardo and Saietta.
Working with the larger manufacturers to secure government funding is key for SMEs. It allows them to put precious resources into vital research and, as a result, Brandauer is carving its own niche in laminations that are paper-thin and ideal for electric motor and stator applications.
Collaboration with academia and other manufacturers has also been worth its weight in gold. Our involvement with the Manufacturing Assembly Network, a seven-strong group of sub-contract manufactures and an engineering design agency, has been crucial.
Despite challenges, UK advanced manufacturing is in good health and remains an attractive partner to international customers and a growing number of domestic firms bringing production back.
The opportunities are there – they’re starting to be realised on shop floors all over the country. However, there is still a big skills challenge to ensure we have the technical competences required to really seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity.
Tata’s recent announcement of a landmark gigafactory in Somerset is a prime example. It’s a massive boost to have this production in the UK, but we must ensure the domestic supply chain also benefits from the trickle-down spending. There is no point welcoming the direct impact if most of the content is produced overseas.
Let’s build the supply chain, let’s build the skills base and then I’m pretty certain that the global business will come.
