On Jun 23, 6:46*pm, Jim Lesurf wrote:
In article , Kennedy McEwen

wrote:
Did you watch "Made in Britain" the other night? *Whilst we don't have a
particularly visible manufacturing capacity in this country anymore,
manufacturing is still more than 12% of our economy

That does depend on how you are basing the 'percentage' - as I think the
programme did get around to pointing out at the end. The figure doesn't
necessarily mean that 12 percent of our personal incomes and jobs come from
it.

because we do make things here that they don't have the skills or
technology to make in low cost countries and let them make the things
our wages would cause to be uneconomic to build here.

Not quite. Many of the things we make here could just as well be made
abroad in places that have "technology" as good or better then ours. [1] So
it would be unwise to assume we are 'cleverer than Johnny Foreigner' so
have an inherent advantage. That kind thinking sank our mass makers decades
ago.

This also depends on the firms and people involved, not lines on maps. What
does vary from place to place is:

1) What either banks or venture capital will fund.

2) What designers can get (1) to help them turn ideas into products and
make and market them.

3) Being able to market them on their image/impact as well as their
content.


Jim

[1] Indeed, in many cases they are. Think of the brands that produce items
designed here, but made abroad. Dyson, for example, at a medium-tech level.


Dyson's are grossly overrated, they're called "die soons" in the
trade, Dyson only make a limited range of vacs with built-in
obsolesence, and other 'fashionable' products.

The best vacs by far are Numatic, and they're made in the UK,
employing over 700 people. They make a wide range of products to meet
all requirements.

http://www.numatic.co.uk/about.aspx

These people make better floor machines though, also manufacturing in
the UK:

http://www.victorfloorcare.com/about-us