In the U.K., 40% of manufacturers surveyed by industry group Make UK said they had sourced more goods domestically over the past year, and around the same proportion plan to over the next year. Make UK surveyed 137 companies in January and February.
While producing goods close to their point of sale can reduce costs, the main reason for local sourcing is to avoid the disruptions that can happen in longer supply chains — such as Covid and the Ukraine war — according to Make UK’s survey.
For British audio equipment-maker BishopSound, moving some of its supply chain from China to Yorkshire in northern England has improved its cashflow because minimum order quantities are lower domestically.
“In the past, we imported finished plywood speakers from 7,000 miles away in China. We are now manufacturing all our speakers in the North of England and using British-made components wherever possible. We stopped importing finished wooden speakers last December,” company founder Andrew Bishop told CNBC via email.
Other benefits of producing domestically include the lower chance of products being copied, Bishop said, as well as improved quality control and smaller environmental impact. There is also a political reason for moving production: “The Chinese use Russian Plywood and we do not want to support war,” Bishop added.
— CNBC’s Lora Kolodny contributed to this report.
