UK businesses continue to face many struggles and unprecedented challenges during 2022, with the UK’s rising cost of living pressures and inflation jumping to a staggering 13.2%.
Fuel and energy costs remain a huge concern, with prices cripplingly high and transportation costs of exporting goods for both road and sea freight at levels never seen before. The war in Ukraine and sanctions on Russia still cause uncertainty around rising fuel prices, and interruptions in the supply of machinery parts and raw materials continue to cause problems.
With interest rates rising to a base rate of 2.25% recently, there is added pressure on businesses exposed to debt burdens and rising mortgage costs.
Our Commercial Director Robin Eley shares his thoughts six months after his first interview to discuss why choosing British sheet metal suppliers can help alleviate supply chain and export concerns.
“Without doubt, UK manufacturing is feeling the same pressures of the global energy price hikes that are being felt through the entire supply chain, but keeping manufacturing in Britain has several benefits.
“The most significant is transportation. High shipping and logistic prices, along with delivery delays, have resulted in many supply chain issues.
“Many years ago, sourcing production outside of the UK was a viable way to sub-contract sheet metal fabrication, but as time has moved on, the cost-benefit, logistics and infrastructure that supported this kind of trade has now disappeared. British manufacturing has an annual output of £183 billion, and remains the ninth largest manufacturing nation in the world, providing 2.5m jobs across the country. By reshoring to the UK, companies benefit from a more localised control of production, ensuring that everything from communication to quality standards is to the highest standard possible.
“With world-class engineering here in the UK, and strong partnerships with leading suppliers, we have the capacity and ability to prototype and progress production opportunities without the high costs associated with logistics.
“As a company, we are taking further measures to be self-sufficient. We recently completed the installation of 1770 solar panels covering 3,570.5m² of roof space on the Alpha Manufacturing facility roof. These solar panels will allow the business to generate enough power to run our machinery. Over a 12-month period, the business will save 150 tCO₂ carbon emissions, the equivalent of a two-litre diesel car travelling one million miles, and taking us a step closer to achieving our carbon neutral commitment by 2037.
“We are increasingly supporting our customers, from a wide variety of sectors, to take on their production and alleviate some of the pressures facing UK businesses today.”
To find out more about how we can support reshoring your sheet metal production to the UK with our complete in-house fabrication service, get in touch.
