Date: Fri 28th November, 2008
Venue: Wolverhampton Science Park, Wulfruna Street, WV1 1LY
Number of Guests Attended: 65
The economic crisis has hit manufacturing with a vengeance. So what are the prospects for the sector that remains the engine of the Midlands economy? Insider gathered together a high-powered panel in Wolverhampton to take questions from concerned industrialists.
The panel comprised: Mark Brickhill, group managing director at Goodyear Dunlop, James Cadman, managing director of Aqualux, Pat McFadden, MP for Wolverhampton South East and minister for employment relations, Jean Pousson, programme director at the Institute of Directors, and David Wright, chief executive of the Manufacturing Advisory Service in the West Midlands.
Speaking of the need to promote manufacturing, Wright said: “One of the failings we have as manufacturers is that we are not great at self-promotion. We have a tremendous opportunity to promote ourselves, and this region, as wealth creators, but more does need to be done. Bringing youngsters - and as importantly, their teachers - into the manufacturing environment will improve our image and raise our profile.”
Brickhill added: “We all need to make sure we have products which our customers want, and what they really want, not what we might think they want. We don’t do a good job at promoting the West Midlands as a brand. In Greater Manchester, everyone is happy to buy into their brand, but that doesn’t happen here.”
The panel answered questions from the audience on predictions for changes in raw material prices during 2009, credit insurers withdrawing protection against bad debts, the role of universities in supporting manufacturers and how manufacturers can differentiate themselves from the competition.
Full coverage of this event features in the January 2009 issue of Midlands Business Insider. Subscribe to Insider in our Shop.
