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present real barriers for manufacturers operating overseas, so breaking down these trade obstacles will be key to supporting growth and strengthening the UK’ s global competitiveness.
Why does the UK need a specialized Manufacturing Minister? Manufacturing is, in many ways, the backbone of the UK economy. Establishing a Minister for Manufacturing would give this vital sector, which employs a significant proportion of our workforce here in the UK, the dedicated voice it deserves at the highest levels of government.
Moving onto the impact of the Jaguar Land Rover cyber-attack across the manufacturing supply chain – what can the sector learn from the incident? The JLR cyber-attack resulted in significant disruption across its entire supply chain, with businesses left grappling with lost work and constrained cashflow for several weeks. Many manufacturers – including SMEs – are likely to still be feeling the impact today, and the longterm effects are yet to play out.
The incident highlighted the speed at which security can turn into fragility, particularly when manufacturers in a supply chain are reliant on a single, large customer. It also underscored the vulnerability of supply chains, in some cases resembling a‘ house of cards’.
To build resilience, manufacturers need to stay nimble and able to pivot or diversify their operations in response to changing demand. Increasingly, a key measure of success will be how easily a business can switch and respond to market changes.
What does the future look like for the advanced manufacturing sector? In a speech delivered at the March 2026 Make UK National Manufacturing Conference, Business Secretary Peter Kyle, spoke about three key pillars to the next generation of manufacturing:“ Conception. Production. Utilisation”. In brief:
■‘ Conception’: embedding innovative technologies and AI at the design stage. To quote Peter Kyle,“ the factory of the future begins not on the shop floor, but on a high-performance computer.”
■‘ Production’: championing next stage production, where new technologies and techniques are integrated to modernize factories and ensure the UK remains competitive on a global stage.
■‘ Utilisation’: strengthening how UK‐made solutions are sold globally, with products increasingly bundled with services. For this to succeed from conception, there will need to be a focus on helping businesses, particularly SMEs, to access finance and funding to invest in innovation and advanced engineering, as well as upskilling the workforce so engineers can use AI as confidently as machinery. Policy and measures such as trade agreements and export finance will also be essential.
How are the UK’ s Net Zero targets impacting the manufacturing sector? Looking ahead, energy and access to strategic metals and minerals will be critical. Offshoring our emissions to countries with lower environmental standards undermines the UK manufacturing base without delivering real climate benefits. As many countries move toward“ friend-shoring” to strengthen and
When businesses feel confident to invest in innovation, then we will once more see the return of the sector to the forefront of the global economy
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