What can be done to help manufacturing in the United Kingdom?

Like many I am dismayed by the lack of consumer goods marked "Made in England" or "Made in the UK".  Even when the country of origin is displayed it is often hard find to on items.  This topic has been a hobby horse of mine for a long time in fact ever since M&S took down the notice "90% of our goods source in the UK".  The credit crunch has shown us finally that we cannot and must never again rely on the financial services sector as a mainstay of our economy.  Our banks have not only bankrupted themselves but have very nearly done for the country itself.

We know that British workers are among the best in the world (Nissan, Honda and Toyota have shown that).  Successive governments (both Labour and Tory) have presided over the demise of countless factories allowing foriegn competitors a free reign both overseas and at home.  France, Italy and Germany have not let this to such an extent.  In the whole world only the USA has been as complacent about the decline of domestic production as the United Kingdom.  Can we at least start putting little union jacks prominently on items for sale where we can easily see them and shaming retail buyers into supporting home industries ahead of foreign ones; it is only by restoring national pride will we make Britain Great again.

Welcome to POE (Pictures of England) Gordon. 

What a great thread! I hope you also go over to the Introductions thread and tell us a bit about yourself.

I am alway conscientious about buying British or American, even though it means paying more. 

I have been lurking on this forum for quite a while and have umm'd and aaa'd about registering but Gordon's first post has "tipped me over the edge" !!!! I have worked in manufacturing (maintenance) all my 41 year working life, since the early nineties the rot has set in, successive goverments and indeed a lot of higher management at the companies that I have worked for have seen the manufacturing side of the business as "dirty and nasty" and full of trained monkeys, the work utopia that these people see are people siting at desks shuffling paper and typing on PC's, "this gives the right image to the customer",  so they say !!  Combine this attitude and the fact that foreign workers on much lower wages can produce the the product cheaper but generally not better (having been involved in moving production lines to other countries I've seen it first hand) and no "blocking" tactics from the goverment to keep manufacturing, as in other countries, it's no wonder we now have nothing to fall back on. Oh, Sue H, it would be nice if what's left of British manufacturing were able to put "made in England or Britain" on their products as you proudly do in the States but the EU don't like that and as we seems to be the only country that obeys these stupid laws, you only see "made in the EU".

Rant over !!!!!!!!   

Good morning everyone (I'm still in Australia so it's morning here).

We are returning to the UK shortly and I am bringing back with me a design and manufacturing business. I am a fashion designer and dressmaker and have my own label in petite to plus sizes ladies fashion. Having seen the very poor quality of clothes made in China and how they have swamped the market leaving very little in the way of choice or quality for those who want it, I have no doubts that we can play a small part in producing our own goods in England. People argue that the cost of manufacturing is too expensive in the UK. In my experience, this is not true. We can produce a well made skirt for the same costs and retail it for the same amount in order to receive the same mark up as goods made in China.

The difference is that we are happy to settle for a lower profit margin but produce a higher quality product. In the 5 years that i have been in Australia where Chinese goods flood the retail industry, I have seen shoes and T shirts bought for $2.00 out of a container from China (wholesale), then sold for as much as $99.

I know it's just a small contribution but it's a start in helping Britain. We will be creating opportunities for women to start their own business and I will need to employ several people. I'm coming back having already invested in all the setting up costs, machinery and fabrics so we don't need to borrow any money. We just need to find the right place to base ourselves. Just a small drop in the ocean but all with good, sincere intentions. 

Thank you so much for your support and for casting fresh angles.  I particularly note the comment relating to made in the EU rather than the specific country itself.  As has been pointed out manufacturing in the UK is not inherently more expensive and people will pay more for proven quality and durability.  You can get cheap goods from China which are often inferior quality and in some cases dangerous (toys, fireworks and baby milk!) and only cheap because the workers are so poorly paid.

I do not advocate protectionism but a combination of corporate and government responsibility to allow the consumer the oppportunity to choose British if they want.  The buyers in Primark, Matalan, M&S, Debenhams, John Lewis and countless other retail chains can insist that they will only buy items with the country of origin clearly marked and give more prominance to home produced goods in their shops.  Many of the imported items are non-essentials anyway which are the very types of items which we stop buying in hard times so they will not be missed.

Will our rants help - well not a lot but if enough of us write to the media and some of those less than effective MP's - may be even protest outside and inside some of the larger retailers they may get the message.  The problem with ranting is that we tend only to attract others who agree with us, give vent to their views getting things off their chests but in reality not changing anything.

Not how can we make real change for the better.