Britain is now the ‘lowest-cost manufacturing economy of Western Europe
The UK is recovering its mantle as a global manufacturing hub and is now one of the cheapest locations to produce goods in Western Europe, according to a new study from the Boston Consulting Group. Direct manufacturing costs in the UK have improved by up to 10 percentage points compared to other Western European countries thanks to stable wages and improved productivity over the past decade. The trend is so pronounced that the UK is even becoming increasingly competitive compared to many Eastern European countries like Poland and the Czech Republic. Apparently cheaper labour spurring investment in the UK, driving growth and helping to increase the number of jobs. The article has certainly opened up a series of debates around wage levels and how these compare to other European member states, buying local, and whether we are going to win the race to the bottom. This is particularly important as you may be surprised to hear, but its true, rural England has a higher proportion of manufacturing businesses per head than its urban opposite.