The first National Manufacturing Day was celebrated at Booth Industries in Bolton last week on 7th July with a visit from Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Jonathan Reynolds MP.

World-renowned provider of multi-protection doorsets Booth Industries, along with manufacturers around the UK, opened its doors to give the local community a behind the scenes look at the facility and to showcase the range of highly-skilled jobs on offer in the industry.

Organised by the Manufacturer’s organisation MAKE UK, National Manufacturing Day aims to attract more local talent into the industry and demonstrate the value of manufacturing apprenticeships.

Following a tour of Booth’s facilities and a demonstration of its activities, Jonathan Reynolds Shadow Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy said: “Manufacturing is a vibrant, growth sector and on Make UK’s first National Manufacturing Day, I am delighted to experience first-hand the opportunities that are available, as well as speaking to some of the apprentices at Booth Industries – a company that has been a part of the local community for generations.”

Established in 1873 Booth Industries specialises in certified engineered and bespoke multi-protection doorsets. Acquired out of administration in 2019, it has undergone an impressive turnaround under its new owners, securing a wealth of new contracts and delivering on some of the UK’s most recent, high-profile projects including the new London underground Elizabeth Line and HS2.

“We are delighted to participate in the first National Manufacturing Day. It’s such a great way to showcase the wonderful opportunities in manufacturing to the wider community, including local schools, and is a chance to inspire students and promote the industry as a potential career path,” said Mike Jenkinson, managing director at Booth Industries.

To mark the inaugural National Manufacturing Day, Make UK has published a short bulletin, Manufacturing: State of the Industry, the Potential for Growth which suggests that growing manufacturing’s contribution from the current 10% to 15% of GDP would deliver £142 billion to Britain’s economy and would help to achieve the Government’s desire to level up large swathes of the country.

It has also called on Government to work with industry to develop a reinvigorated Industrial Strategy to help turbo-boost untapped potential.

“Government has already identified manufacturing as a growth sector and has done much to support it, firstly through incredibly challenging environment of the pandemic and with a series of measures to help the sector bounce back as trade started to normalise,” added Stephen Phipson, CEO of Make UK.

“However, to further tap into the growth, agility and resilience Britain’s manufacturers have shown over the last two years, imaginative solutions are needed to make sure the full potential is reached. It is not an overly ambitious target to say that manufacturing can grow to deliver 15% share of UK GDP, but Government does need to help companies be confident enough to make big investment decisions by helping with some key incentives such as making the Annual Investment Allowance increase permanent and expanding the R&D tax relief scheme to include capital expenditure.”

According to figures from Make UK, manufacturing currently provides 335,000 jobs in the North West, with salaries typically a third higher than the regional average. It also supports almost 30,000 apprenticeships.

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