9 months ago, the blog reported on the resilience being shown at the UK’s Wilton chemical site, one of the world’s largest.
It noted that “the power of the teams being created there could be immense“.
It is therefore delighted to see that the North East Process Industry Cluster (NEPIC) is now moving forward on a new initiative aimed at creating a framework to ensure the area’s survival.
This is being led by the blog’s friend and former ICI colleague, Bob Coxon, supported by all the major stakeholders. He has made it clear that “any initiative had to be private- sector led. But government also had a role to play in creating a framework that made that process easier.”
Hopefully, government is starting to get the message. Lord Mandelson, UK Business Secretary, has recently repeated his call for “less financial engineering and a lot more real engineering.” He has also recognised that the UK is the world’s 6th largest manufacturer – something that has been rather forgotten in recent years.