The General Election campaign is little more than a week old and the electronics industry is still waiting to see “what’s in it for us?”
Those working in the industry are still looking for evidence that the main political parties have any serious plans to rebalance the economy, emphasising the importance of manufacturing and engineering industries.
Manufacturing accounts for just 12% of the UK’s GDP. Do Labour, the Conservatives or the Liberal Democrats have any credible strategies to make manufacturing, and high-tech manufacturing in particular, more important to the UK economy?
Over the coming weeks Electronics Weekly will question a panel of 25 business managers working in the electronics industry about their expectations for the campaign and the next government.
Hung parliament
Even at this early stage in the election campaign there is a very real concern that a hung parliament on 6 May would have a negative effect on any plan to support manufacturing and engineering industries.
“The prospect of a hung parliament really worries me,” said one manager. “It could mean we have two parties at cross purposes with different goals and promises.”
“It would be a disaster, resulting in a new election within the year, which none of us need,” commented another executive.
“A hung parliament is indecision for me,” said another.
While a survey of this size cannot be used to give pointers towards voting trends, it can highlight the issues which the industry thinks should be addressed by government.
“A hung parliament could cause Sterling to become unstable and affect our competitiveness as a nation,” pointed out one exporter.
What is apparent is that all political parties need to do more to demonstrate their real commitment to high-technology industries and manufacturing.
According to Harry Tee, chairman of the Electronics Leadership Council (ELC), what he will be looking to see is how the industrial policies of all the political parties support high-technology industries in particular.
“The ‘colour’ of a government is far less important than its economic competence and its strategy for industry,” said Tee.
Technology centres
An example of industrial policy which focuses on high technology is the present government’s recent plan to create a national network of technology centres which will be used to commercialise university research in areas such as plastic electronics and satellite communications.
The network, which was announced only last month by business secretary Lord Mandelson, is the result of a report by technology entrepreneur Hermann Hauser.
Other areas of interest will include stem cell research, technologies addressing renewable energy and climate change, fuel cells and advanced manufacturing.
It mirrors similar European innovation networks, such as the Fraunhofer institutes in Germany and the Delft Centre in the Netherlands.
“The recent announcement from Lord Mandelson regarding technology development centres – a policy that had its origins in the ELC – was very welcome indeed and is one that must be fully adopted, and even expanded, by any incoming government,” said Tee.
Significantly, the common view seems to be that the main parties have to start giving more detail about their industrial policies.
Priorities
So what would the industry put at the top of the list?
“A long-term plan that puts world-beating capabilities and skills in science, design, engineering and manufacturing at the top of the agenda. This is a must to make sure we have something that the rest of the world wants to buy,” said Phil Inness, managing director of manufacturing company Axis Electronics.
For example, Conservative policy seems to focus on the importance of the industry’s strength in renewable energy technologies as part of its proposed overhaul of the UK’s energy policy.
Tee summed up the views of the panel when he said there should be a return to economic fundamentals based on a balanced economy in which manufacturing and high-technology design and development must play an increasing role.
“The UK is an industrialised nation and I for one do not buy the ‘post-industrial’ argument,” said Tee.
So it would be a step in the right direction if there was evidence during the election campaign that the main political parties share the view that engineering and manufacturing can provide the economic foundation on which everything else is built.
“A new government must recognise this through the introduction of business-friendly policies and investment strategies,” said Tee.
The financial crisis which followed the banking collapse in 2008 has raised expectations throughout the industry that there is now a chance that the next government will put the UK’s industrial policy back on the political agenda.
Some might say the next government has little option but to replace the high-tech inactivity of the past.
“Carry on the way we are and we risk our children living in a UK filled with Disney-like tourist attractions and areas of high depravation and unemployment,” said Inness.