The government’s inability to think collectively is crippling our industry says Gerry Stapley, Managing Director of Eaton-Williams and President of HEVAC.
With the nation being urged to save energy, cut emissions and reduce its carbon footprints, regular hikes in fuel costs are hitting employers, employees and consumers alike and is doing very little to reduce carbon emissions.
“It is high time the government took an holistic approach when setting policies,” says Gerry.
Instead of penalising, Gerry would like to see the government fostering manufacturing in a bid to reduce carbon footprints. When a penny or two is put on fuel, the haulage industry is forced to pass the costs on which in turn affects distribution and the cost of raw materials. This translates to an increase in prices across the board from food to textiles and services that in turn bump up prices on the high street and take an ever-increasing chunk out of workers salaries that the government is keen to see capped to prevent further inflation.
Companies like Eaton-Williams, which still manufactures in the UK are put under enormous strain. The majority of Eaton-Williams’ staff commute from surrounding villages, a few from further afield.
“There simply aren’t the transport links for them to be able to get here by bus and/or train and no train or bus schedule is going to accommodate overtime or shift patterns. The same applies to our plant in Stoke-on-Trent where public transport is marginally better but still does not help when operating a night shift,” comments Gerry.
“If the government was truly concerned about reducing emissions it would be actively encouraging and helping manufacturers to manufacture in the UK. Goods could then be produced closer to where they are needed, thus giving a spread of employment and not shipped around the globe to save a few pounds” adds Gerry.
“British manufacturers are continually under pressure to perform against the odds and it is becoming increasingly difficult when competing in an unfair playing field. British manufacturers have to contend with raft after raft of government legislation and EC directives that this country is exceedingly good at implementing to the ‘N’th degree.”
Gerry believes that politicians should stand back and look objectively at how the differing legislation, regulations, council directives, Transport for London (TfL) initiatives (low emissions zone, £200 per day) and EC directives affects the country as a whole, making UK Inc a very costly country in which to manufacture.
“It is very difficult to retain cogent engineering and manufacturing, absorb all the extra costs whilst having the government beating our heads asking for more energy savings whilst at the same time expecting us to compete with countries not facing the same dilemmas and restrictive practices. The government needs to take a more holistic approach and set out a realistic road map for the country instead of the current piece-meal approach.”