Who Says We Don't Make Stuff?

[ToraToraTora]

Did anyone see the Top Gear tribute to British made stuff? Despite the standard anti British rantings of the left it seems we do make thngs. Even after Labour and the unions best efforts to destroy manufacturing in the 60's and 70's it seems we do have a thriving manufacturing base. Can we now stop saying we don't have a manufacturing industry when clearly we do.

[Octavius]

"British management have not ploughed back into new technologies and developments."

They certainly have, but it is component based, and contributes to the outurn product rather than creates it as a whole. If you look at what Rolls-Royce does for aero, defence, marine, energy and nuclear industries you will soon realise that they are at the cutting edge of technologies that lead to major advances in all those areas. The Trent and XWB are just a couple of examples. Likewise the smaller enterprises that produce the best gearboxes, clutches, car engines and carburettors in the world.

[Gromit]

// ....the industry wasn't subsidised by government //

Was the nationalised British Leyland just a dream/nightmare then?

[Gromit]

// Although to be fair Grommit just before that you wrote:

//Our manufacturing base was decimated 20 years ago because it was dirty and old, in favour of nice clean service industries.// //

Took me a while to find that, 'just before' being 3 years ago. I was referring to manufacturing in general, Shipbuilding, trains, televisions etc, as I explained after the para you quote.

To a certain extent, car manufacture has bucked that trend. In the 70s most of the cars were bought here and few were exported. Now we have the opposite, and most go for export.

http://www.tutor2u.net/blog/files/vehicle_output_1208.gif

[mikey4444]

It was very entertaining, all those vehicles on the Mall but what must it have cost the BBC to make such a feature ?

[ToraToraTora]

I accept the shortcommings of the mangement jno but I cannot really say that they had ever been allowed to manage because any change resulted in Red Robb etal, shouting "all out brothers". I agree with the failure to innovate and aslo the "we know best" attitude of the leaders of the British mass car makers. Yes I will also accept that foriegn owned with British workers does seem to be a very effective combination but I wonder how effective the French/Germans/Japanese would have been had the unions not been neutered first (see Dundee example above). LG for Gib etc here is a prime example from one of our resident ABLWs:
http://www.theanswerbank.co.uk/News/Question1264972.html

[sp1814]

ToraToraTora

Britain't industrial base began to erode in the 50, not the 60s or 70s, according to a very interesting documentary presented by my favourite historian (Dominic Sandbrooke) last night.

The problem was that British management thought that they had a ready market in the Commonwealth and basically ignored the opportunities afforded to them by Europe.

Also, when cost were taken into consideration, British goods were not as competitively priced as those out of Europe and then the Far East.

Did you know that Ford costed up the Mini in the 60s and found that Austin was losing £30 on every unit sold.

Austin chose to ignore the findings.

Endemic.

[Gromit]

Similar thing with the Triumph TR7. They were selling like hot cakes in the US. They could not build them fast enough. Unfortunately every one was sold at a loss because the so called management screwed up.

[ToraToraTora]

Yes I am aware of those things.

[emmie]

i did watch this in fact twice, not exactly on purpose, i couldn't find anything interesting to view, other than paint drying, but i was pleasantly and sometime proudly surprised.

[emmie]

so no British management of these companies then? owned by foreign groups and foreign managers, would that be correct, because i wouldn't have thought so, not entirely..

[emmie]

sp, not according to another little gem that was on tv last evening, forget which side but lots of interesting facts and footage of British enterprise, taking our representatives, and going overseas to sell sell sell, cars, clothes, you name it. Much of the footage was in black and white. but this wasn't the 50's.... and by the way it gave the figures for what the financial city makes for Britain then and now, and now its staggering. No wonder the EU wants to get it's grubby little paws on it....