Professor Matt Boyle OBE, Executive Chair of DER-IC (Driving the Electric Revolution Industrialisation Centres) is calling on government to produce a new industrial strategy to make sure the £4.5billion funding announced for the British manufacturing industry in today’s Autumn Statement is spent in a joined up way which maximises the impact.

Matt leads the DER-IC network which provides open access to expertise and state-of-the-art manufacturing, test, and validation equipment in PEMD (Power Electronics, Machines and Drives). PEMD are the underpinning technologies for electrification, that enable Net Zero and decarbonisation.

Matt said: “The chancellor’s announcement of £4.5billion funding for British manufacturing is great PR for international perceptions of the UK manufacturing investment climate. This is a significant amount of money, and it shows the world the UK is open for business, and ready to innovate across manufacturing sectors.

“Timing wise however the talented network of SME’s that make up our British manufacturing supply chain could do with being able to access this funding now rather than in 2025 – the current economy is making it tough for many innovative small businesses to operate.

“One of its biggest potential benefits is an increase of foreign direct investment. We want innovative business to come to, or stay, in the UK to get access to this pipeline of support to grow and develop manufacturing businesses here, not abroad. The UK has always been viewed as a business-friendly environment and this announcement backs that up.

“What would make this news even better for us as an industry would be an updated Industrial Strategy from the government. There are overlaps between manufacturing sectors on the types of technologies we need to innovate, if two industries are trying to do the same thing rather than working together, it dilutes the impact of both efforts and funding. Our network at DER-IC is working hard to join up these dots and fill any gaps, so the industry can collaborate and work efficiently.

“It is positive to see this level of investment being announced for UK manufacturing. We’re an industry that’s pivotal to both the growth of our economy and transitioning to a net zero society – but we need the vision to go with it.”

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