Study title

Interview transcripts with a sample of advanced manufacturing firms(aerospace, electrical, pharmaceutical and automotive sectors), and related policy and business organisations, in the East Midlands, North West and Central Belt of Scotland. The results of a firm questionnaire survey with advanced manufacturing firms (aerospace, electrical, pharmaceutical and automotive sectors) in British manufacturing areas.The recession from 2008, and the persistent sectoral and spatial imbalances in the recovery, have provoked political calls to 'rebalance' the economy. According to Government representatives, Britain needs to 'reindustrialise', to rediscover its talent for manufacturing. Strengthening manufacturing in the Midlands and North will aid economic stability, raise productivity, and promote a more even distribution of growth. It has been argued that traditional industrial regions should develop new types of high-technology, 'advanced' manufacturing activities. Such calls for rebalancing have triggered a major debate on whether the British economy can in any way 're-industrialise'. Optimists point to resurgent clusters of manufacturing industries. Others are sceptical and argue that British manufacturing has been undermined by the 2008 recession, long-term weaknesses and an unsupportive institutional context. In this view, supply chains in British manufacturing are now too thin, fragmented and sparse to support industrial renewal on the scale required. There is evidence to show uneven regional trends in manufacturing, especially between the North and South of Britain and, according to some, advanced manufacturing is growing at a much faster rate in Southern England due to its research intensity and proximity to high-technology institutions. There is a pressing need to know how, and how far, industrial regions in Britain are developing advanced manufacturing. Relatively little is known about any potential regional manufacturing renaissance and the significance of...