BCF, GTMA Collaborate to Encourage More UK Manufacturing

The BCF is proud to be part of the Reshoring UK initiative, a web-based supplier and buyer portal which has been developed as a comprehensive map of the vast number of capabilities available within the UK. 

Currently holding the details of 4,500 companies from 22 Trade Associations, it allows users to build a connected network that forms the foundation of a robust, end-to-end supply chain for any manufacturing or technology-focused businesses.

Julia Moore is the CEO of GTMA, the Trade Association representing engineering companies and manufacturing associations and who backed the initiative.

“Ever since manufacturers began outsourcing production to more competitively priced overseas economies there has been a race to the bottom based on price,” Moore said. “However, there is an intrinsic value attached to making things here in the UK, not least being the opportunities to innovate. Reshoring UK highlights the skills and resources of the UK supply chains and aids manufacturers when considering domestic production for new projects or for the relocation ‘onshore’ of existing work programs.”

Research has shown that even before the global threat from COVID-19 there was a paradigm shift from OEMs looking at the benefits of reshoring, with more than a third (37%) of firms asked saying they were planning to move manufacturing processes back to the UK that had previously been offshored to territories such as Asia and Eastern Europe.

Of those, 71% said the prime motive was to improve quality, a telling endorsement of the high standards that British manufacturers and workers uphold, which also has extremely positive implications for UK supply chains.

“BCF members have a key place in the engineering and manufacturing supply chain in the UK.  If more things are manufactured in the UK due to reshoring, then that will have a direct positive impact on sales of BCF member coatings, printing inks and wallcoverings, and our member companies are great examples of those who demonstrate innovation, technology transfer across sectors and quality,” BCF CEO Tom Bowtell said. “The map locates suppliers that are members of the various trade associations, so they are a trusted resource that anyone using the website can rely upon to build a connected network.”