The 388th annual Cutlers’ Feast brought together leading industrialists, financiers, policymakers and diplomats at Cutlers' Hall in Sheffield to discuss the challenges and opportunities facing British manufacturing.
The Company of Cutlers in Hallamshire is the voice of manufacturing in Sheffield and South Yorkshire, representing 255 companies with combined revenues of £2 billion and tens of thousands of employees in the region.
In the Company’s keynote political speech, Senior Warden Keith Jackson demanded radical action to boost manufacturing's contribution to GDP from 10 per cent to 15 per cent, potentially injecting £142 billion into the economy. He warned that UK industrial energy costs remain 50 per cent higher than Europe and double those in the US, creating “not competition but a chokehold”.
Recalling the Company's motto, “success through honest endeavour”, Prof Jackson outlined how manufacturing now supports 2.5 million direct jobs plus 2.5 million in supply chains, and accounts for nearly two-thirds of UK research and development spending yet faces 64,000 unfilled vacancies.
He called for the government’s forthcoming industrial strategy to back strategic sectors including energy, defence, life sciences and steel; level the playing field with lower industrial energy costs and procurement reforms; and reinforce national resilience by rebuilding the skills pipeline, noting that the UK trains only 72,000 engineering apprentices annually compared to Germany's 427,000.
Prof Jackson said: “British manufacturing cannot survive on sentiment. It needs structure. Together, we can power a manufacturing renaissance, reclaiming UK manufacturing as the engine of economic growth, increasing GDP not through consumption, but through creation, and craft a better future for Britain. The UK has always excelled when it makes, trades, and leads. Let us do so again.”
In response, South Yorkshire’s Mayor Oliver Coppard told the audience: “The world is changing. At a dizzying pace. It creates new imperatives and new opportunities. Energy security, the defence of the realm, and a US presidency that has changed the face of global trade in its first 100 days. That means developing at pace our sovereign manufacturing capability, it means doubling down on clean energy technology and it means growing our own defence and security industries.
“Which is why I wholeheartedly back the Warden’s call for the Government to offer significant support for strategic sectors, for a doubling of the UK’s manufacturing output and for the upcoming industrial strategy and the spending review to be bold, to back our makers and manufacturers.”
The government is expected to publish its industrial strategy and spending review next month.
Speaking ahead of the event, Master Cutler Philip Rodrigo said Britain faced “a pivotal moment” and called for a long-term plan with cross-party support to unlock business investment. He argued that 20 years of policy instability – with 14 different business secretaries – has left British manufacturing exposed to high energy costs and insecure supply chains in an increasingly hostile global environment.
Mr Rodrigo, who is a director at one of the world’s largest producers of stainless steel, said the new government, its industrial strategy and the need to increase defence spending amid growing international threats presented an opportunity to “re-industrialise the nation” and create highly skilled, well-paid jobs across the regions.
The Company was established by Act of Parliament in 1624 and holds responsibility for the world-renowned Made in Sheffield mark. Under Mr Rodrigo's leadership, it has welcomed more female freemen than men for the first time ever, a milestone for the historic trade guild as it seeks to reflect the modern manufacturing workforce.
Thursday's event was also attended by civic leaders and guests including the Ambassador of Finland in the UK, Jukka Siukkosaari.