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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
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| Firms move production back to UK | Firms move production back to UK |
| (about 1 hour later) | |
| Manufacturers are moving production back to the UK amid concerns about poor quality and higher freight costs, a report has said. | Manufacturers are moving production back to the UK amid concerns about poor quality and higher freight costs, a report has said. |
| One in seven companies has moved its manufacturing operations to the UK from abroad in the past two years, a report by the EEF and accountants BDO said. | One in seven companies has moved its manufacturing operations to the UK from abroad in the past two years, a report by the EEF and accountants BDO said. |
| The EEF said the UK had become "increasingly competitive and efficient" over the past few years. | The EEF said the UK had become "increasingly competitive and efficient" over the past few years. |
| The EEF represents thousands of manufacturing companies in the UK. | The EEF represents thousands of manufacturing companies in the UK. |
| "Many companies have taken advantage of the low-cost emerging markets, both as market opportunities and also as a means of reducing costs," the EEF's chief economist Lee Hopley told the BBC. | "Many companies have taken advantage of the low-cost emerging markets, both as market opportunities and also as a means of reducing costs," the EEF's chief economist Lee Hopley told the BBC. |
| "If you look at how UK manufacturers compete in global markets, it's about quality, it's about customer service and it's about delivery times. | "If you look at how UK manufacturers compete in global markets, it's about quality, it's about customer service and it's about delivery times. |
| "If lower labour cost producers can't provide what they need when they need it, then the alternative is to produce in-house and bring production back to the UK, which some are clearly doing." | "If lower labour cost producers can't provide what they need when they need it, then the alternative is to produce in-house and bring production back to the UK, which some are clearly doing." |
| 'Absolutely central' | |
| Many UK firms have outsourced production in the past decade to countries in Eastern Europe or Asia, where labour costs are lower. | |
| But the EEF's survey of 300 manufacturers showed that firms were now returning production to the UK for a number of reasons: cost savings failing to meet expectations, a poor quality of goods produced and the slow speed of getting products to market. | |
| Nearly 70% of companies said the UK was a competitive location for manufacturing, up from 43% two years ago. | |
| Ms Hopley said manufacturing was "absolutely central" to rebalancing the economy. | |
| "As we look ahead to 2010 - where growth is actually going to come from in the UK economy - I think a lot of that is going to be export-driven as world trade picks up and the global economy returns to growth, and obviously manufacturing plays a big part in that," she said. |