Originally Posted by Chris1973:
“So how many US businesses have relocated over to the UK, because it would be cheaper to operate over here?.
Terry's of York, ERF Trucks both companies whose closure has had an impact on me which were shut down, why not keep the UK factories operational?.
Even the UK car industry now just assemble kits which are shipped in via containers from abroad. I work in purchasing for a large manufacturer, I buy the majority of raw materials from abroad, not by choice, but because often its impossible to buy the materials over here anymore because there are no factories producing them, as little as fifteen years ago I could grab a copy of Kelly's and find several companies within a 50 miles who could supply me with parts from an entire bill of materials, these days i'd be lucky to source three lines.
Sorry but i'm not seeing any of this growth that you speak of.”
This article from the last 2 weeks says different.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/n...hancellor.html
Quote:
“The industry has already provided the Chancellor with another helping hand, holding out the prospect of another 320,000 jobs – taking the total past the 1m mark – and boosting the economy by £321bn a year with extensive investment in electric vehicle and driverless car technologies if Britain remains in the EU.
An impressive list of headline data illustrates how the industry is back to accounting for almost 10pc of exports. It is currently ranked the 14th biggest motor vehicle manufacturer in the world and fourth in the EU – but with Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Jaguar Land Rover and Aston Martin in its product range, it is second in the league table of luxury car makers.
Sales have risen for 38 months in a row in a buoyant domestic market, while the previously depressed commercial vehicle sector has seen production rise by almost 25pc in the first four months this year.
Industry turnover has topped £64bn a year, employment is 770,000 and rising. The industry exports more than 70pc of its production, with the average price of cars destined for overseas buyers nearing £22,000, compared with £10,000 in 2004.”
or...
http://www.theguardian.com/business/...-factory-civic
Quote:
“Honda has secured the future of its factory in Swindon by announcing a £200m investment to produce one of the Japanese carmaker’s most popular vehicles at the site.
The announcement takes promised investment in the UK car industry to more than £1bn in less than a week. On Thursday, Jaguar Land Rover said it would spend about £600m at its West Midlands operations, including £400m to support manufacture of the Jaguar-XF at Castle Bromwich.
On the same day, Geely, the Chinese owner of the London Taxi Company, unveiled plans to spend £250m and create up to 1,000 jobs developing new, low-emission black cabs at a new factory in Coventry.”