What is the key message you would like people to take from your rebrand? Does it imply a change of emphasis in the organisation's mission, or is a cosmetic exercise?

The rebrand is aligned to the transformation that we see in manufacturing.

Obviously we are extremely proud of the 125 year heritage and tradition that goes with EEF however we felt now, with manufacturing changing and transforming, it was a great time to better reflect the sector and our members, hence the name change to Make UK. 

One of the key issues that manufacturers have faced for numerous decades is being able to attract younger generations into the sector. Having consulted widely across our membership, the sector and in particular younger generations it was felt that the rebranded name better reflected 21^st century manufacturing and should further open up doors for people to enter UK manufacturing.

Do you think your organisation is vociferous enough when championing the interests of manufacturing at Government level?

We do. Everything we do – from providing essential business support and training to championing manufacturing industry in the UK and the EU – is designed to help British manufacturers compete, innovate and grow. We are a truly unique organisation with powerful voice at local, national and international level for all companies from small to large in the manufacturing and engineering sector.

It's well known that we need more apprentices to replace engineers who are retiring. With fewer engineers now coming over from the European Union and it taking up to seven years to train an engineer, how do you see the UK coping with the shortfall over the interim period? And when new engineers are fully trained and ready to contribute fully, what are the factors which will keep them in the UK?

We need to focus on up-skilling and re-skilling the existing workforce, as well as bringing in new talent. Manufacturers want to retain employees whose jobs are at risk from automation and 58% plan to re-skill them to work in other parts of the business and 54% plan to up-skill them to work in new job roles that investment in digital technologies and techniques will create. There is a potential role for the Government’s National Retraining Scheme as a quarter (24%) of companies will be looking for external support.

Manufacturers are planning to spend their training budgets on technical engineering skills (68%) and productivity skills (57%). However only one in five (21%) of manufacturers are looking to spend any of their training spend on digital skills, suggesting more needs to be done to prepare the sector for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

The manufacturing industry is an impressive and exciting sector to be a part of and it vital that both the industry and the Government promotes its benefits and the opportunities to advance across the sector that it provides. As shown in the Workforce Pay Benchmark Report, engineers will see their wage increase by 77% from their first to fourth year of their apprenticeship and at the point that they complete training. Further, data from the ASHE reported by ONS, shows the average salary for an engineer is £32.5k which is 10.7% higher than the whole economy average of £29k a year. Change brings opportunity and we are in the early stages of the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). The next few years will bring exciting new prospects for the next generation of talent and we need to market this to young people as much as possible. 

Why does Make UK believe that reforming technical education is a key driver in improving the UK's productivity?

For too long, technical education has remained in the shadows of academic learning. Yet, manufacturers are increasingly looking for employees that have practical and technical skills, knowledge and behaviours. The two flagship policies from the Government have been the introduction of the Apprenticeship Levy and the forthcoming roll out of new T levels. Both have the opportunity to boost technical education once and for all. However, neither in their current form are likely to achieve their potential.

Since the Apprenticeship Levy came into force in 2017, apprenticeship starts have fallen each year. While manufacturers cannot afford to stop training apprentices, there have been many missed opportunities to create more apprenticeships. Government needs to be more radical when it comes to reforming the Apprenticeship Levy to get the system back on track. 

Government must also work with industry to ensure a successful roll out of T-Levels. Employers’ state that young people need to be more ‘work-ready’ and T-Levels have the potential to help address this problem as they are made up of classroom based theory, practical learning and a mandatory three month industry placement. However, there are challenges to be addressed before T-Levels are implemented. Make UK found that 65% of manufacturers had not heard of T-Levels and those that had, had limited knowledge of them. Government needs to create and implement a communication strategy to promote T-Levels and work with manufacturers to raise awareness. As we are 17 months away from their introduction, the Government should clarify the timeline for all T Level routes and the next steps for their implementation. 

The three month placement will allow students to apply their knowledge and develop their skills in a working environment. However, the placement element is not going to be easy for employers to embrace. In Make UK’s survey, 69% of manufacturers said their business lacked the people capacity to support and deliver a placement. Further, 55% of manufacturers said that finding the resource and time to offer a placement will be difficult. Most worryingly, 44% of manufacturers do not understand what is expected of them or what the placement entails. To help support the delivery of placements, the Government should provide financial support to employers and work with manufacturers to develop an employer toolkit offering guidance and support on how to deliver the placement element. T-Level students should be able to undertake their placement with more than one employer and the Government must ensure manufacturers can be flexible when they can take on T-Level students. 

If technical education is reformed, the manufacturing industry will see a strong pipeline of new talent, with students having the appropriate skills and knowledge for the sector. 

What is the organisation's view on the Apprenticeship Levy?

The Apprenticeship Levy had the potential to be a win-win with Make UK and its members seeing  its potential by giving employers greater purchasing power to buy the training provision needed and lead businesses to increase the number of apprentices. 

However, what was one a win-win has turned into a lose-lose, with just 5% of manufacturers wanting to keep the Levy as it is. There remain fundamental challenges with the Levy including determining whether an employer is an Apprenticeship Levy payer. One in five manufacturers found it difficult to determine if they were a Levy payer because of the connected companies rule. Manufacturers have struggled to register on the Digital Account Service (DAS) with 20% reporting a problem and one in five manufacturers saying they have struggled to add multiple PAYE schemes onto their digital accounts. Finding an apprenticeship standard that met the needs of their business was a difficulty for 43% of manufacturers and 41% said colleges/providers were not willing to deliver the apprenticeship standard they wanted. Another challenge was negotiating the price of an apprenticeship with 34% of manufacturers stating this was a struggle. Getting colleges/providers to deliver high-cost apprenticeships was a task for 12% of firms and 54% of manufacturers said the apprenticeship standard was not ready for delivery.

We want to see the funding band structure reviewed so that it covers the true cost of training an apprentice and move the Levy Budget from Department Expenditure Limit, (DEL) to Annually Managed Expenditure, (AME). The Levy is not the employers’ money to spend, it is public money and the DfE have a budget to spend on apprenticeships. Therefore, the DfE have to account for every pound and annual restrictions are put in place. Moving from DEL to AME would mean that apprenticeships are funded based on demand over a training cycle and would allow flexibility within the funding system. Further, the signing off of new apprenticeship standards needs to become quicker and transparent and most importantly, employer led. It’s not too late to save the Levy and if the Government acts quickly and makes reforms to the policy, then there is a possibility for the Levy to create more quality apprenticeships, particularly in skills shortage areas.

What can be done to improve the perceived status of engineers in the UK?

Unfortunately, the perception of the manufacturing industry is too often a barrier to recruitment, with the sector seen as out-dated and unattractive. In contrast, manufacturing offers excellent careers, high-quality training, better pay than the economy in general and a wide variety of career opportunities to suit both men and women. Part of this perception gap is generated at any early stage of formal education, leading too few students to pursue STEM subjects which are valued by employers. Manufacturers need to continue work with schools and colleges to help promote and incentivise young people to pursue a fulfilling engineering careers by offering work experience, job shadowing roles and career fairs. Outreach from employers needs to include parents and teachers who often encourage students to follow an academic pathway of A-Levels and a degree without knowing the full extent of what an apprenticeship can offer. 

Other than Brexit what are the biggest challenges faced by UK manufacturers at the moment and what are you doing to help?

Speaking to manufacturers, access to skills remains a key challenge.  Government and employers need to become more creative and develop a more diverse pipeline of highly-skilled workers to address this increasing problem. This pipeline needs to be rebalanced to include greater number of women and talent from BAME backgrounds. We need to change the perception of the industry, working with young apprentices and graduates, and promote a positive attitude towards a career in engineering. Schools and colleges need to work closely with manufacturers so they can align education with industry needs. Another challenge is successfully adapting to the fourth revolution and manufacturers have the opportunity to use new technologies to add value to their business and supply chain. Over time we will see AI drive all aspects of the manufacturing process and we must be able to operate alongside AI in order to add long-term value to businesses and ensure there is productivity growth. There is a growing need for workers to develop and programme AI in the machine environment and they need to be skilled people. However, the Government’s industry package to improve skills in the AI sector is not sufficient funding for the long-term. There needs to be AI related policy for education, skills, training and up-skilling alongside the investment in offers for the successful development of 4IR. There remains uncertainty within the economy and in particular, business investment has fallen for three quarters in a row. Further, the uncertainty is affecting consumer confidence, which is at a historical low despite wages increasing. However, the world economy is slowing down despite domiciled political problems in the UK. This weak growth is the consequence of uncertainties surrounding global trade and the fear of the world becoming a less-open place. 

Why should we be hopeful about manufacturing in the UK?

In recent years manufacturing has enjoyed a renaissance. The UK is the 9^th largest manufacturing nation with our sector directly employing almost 3 million people and indirectly supporting many more. Our sector is a high quality employer: wages are well above the national average, many employees work in hi-tech environments and our commitment to comprehensive apprenticeships, training and up-skilling is second to none. We see the likes of the 4^th Industrial Revolution and growth in green tech as key areas as to how the UK can lead the world in manufacturing and engineering.