Manufacturing helps us pay our way in the world by generating some 60% of the UK’s exports.
Close to three million people are employed in manufacturing, and it indirectly sustains many more jobs in the service industries. Manufacturing is innovative, representing three-quarters of the
UK ’s spending on business research and development (R&D). The UK is also the world’s sixth largest manufacturer.
This report looks at the evidence of how much manufacturing has changed and is changing as well as whether companies have now built secure foundations for future success. It draws on new EEF research on what companies see as their main source of competitive advantage.
We also analyse responses over this decade to our Business Trends Survey to look at the characteristics of the firms that have been consistently successful and present case studies and evidence from in-depth interviews with some of them.