All Mix Blog

Limited edition Minis to be decked out with Rolls Royce interior touches Reasonable Royal Wedding product alert: Stoke brewery partners with pottery to produce ceramic bottle Life at the Dyson R&D dept sounds pretty fun Retailer to fund UK manufacturing apprenticeships First new MG in 16 years rolls off production line at Longbridge, Birmingham

The 'Top 10 Best Rock Bands Ever' Are... - Starpulse.com

Over the last few months M&I has had several conversations with people involved in UK manufacturing - from heads of trade bodies to factory owners to designers . Time and again the same issue arises; if the UK is to play a strong role in the global economy then more support is needed from the government. 'For small, medium and large enterprises, there has been little reform to boost manufacturing, training and growth in the UK since the General Election,' Ian Williamson of The Midland Manufacturing Group , told The Kenilworth Weekly News . 'There has also been a significant trend regarding the sale of our larger companies to overseas competitors . The UK is now reliant on them for ensuring the research and development of high-value, high-skill jobs remain in the UK.' 'If we lose our manufacturing base we are never going to get it back,' warned Williamson. 'The West Midlands is the heartland of our manufacturing and we need trading conditions to allow it ...

Birmingham has received a sizeable amount of column inches over the last couple of weeks, mostly spurred by the Cameron chat. A good consequence of this has been the focus on manufacturing in the area, epitomised by this story from the BBC. The future of Jaguar Land Rover's Solihull plant had never been in doubt, according to Gerard Coyne, regional secretary of Unite, due to it being the 'ancestral home' of the car maker. Workers at the plant were clearly relieved. 'It's better than good. It's far more than we could have expected and I am gobsmacked,' said (the brilliantly named) Mick Jones, a paint shop worker from Erdington, Birmingham. We enjoyed reading the comments from other workers here too.

A piece in the Financial Times caught our eye today: ' MG, the Birmingham based carmaker will begin producing its first new car in 15 years, and from 2011 relaunch in the UK as a 'value' brand .' 'We've got to get across the ideas of having a great past with a bright, exciting future,' Guy Jones, MG Motor's UK sales and marketing director told John Reed of the FT. According to the FT, if the new MG6 model proves successful then production at the Longbridge site will be increased, giving new life to the site that was once one of Europe's largest car plants. Image from Old Classic Car