UK must rebalance its economy, says Juergen Maier, Siemens 06 March 2012

The UK must rebalance its economy whatever the economic conditions. That will be the message from Juergen Maier, managing director of Siemens UK Industry, at today's (6 March 2012) Automated Britain conference.

Held at the Commonwealth Club in London, the Automated Britain conference is a joint conference between GAMBICA and Intellect, with support from Siemens, to promote automation as a key factor in growing the UK economy.

Maier thrust is that the UK has no choice but to move forward in order for the economy to recover.

"The current economic conditions make it doubly important that we should aim to redress the balance towards manufacturing, which at the moment only stands at 12% of GDP compared with a European average of 25% and a world average of 31%," argues Maier.

"As for government action, we have renewed support for apprenticeships and vocational training," he continues. "For instance, there are a number of University Technical Colleges that are being set up to offer 14-19 year olds...

For Maier this is about starting by building on the new University Technical Colleges, including The Black Country University Technical College, opened in the West Midlands in partnership with Siemens.

"Another key initiative is the High Value Manufacturing Catapult which, in October 2011, brought seven partners together to form the new Catapult centre, bringing together their expertise in complementary areas of high value manufacturing," asserts Maier.

"At Siemens we are delighted to be able to support both these initiatives and several others which are engaging with our sector," he adds.

The Automated Britain conference has attracted cross-party support from policy makers in government but also industry.

Key questions being debated include, does automation create growth and increase employment? What are the drivers to encourage uptake of investment in automation?

Keynote speakers today will include Mark Prisk MP, Minister for Business and Enterprise. He will be joined at the event by Chi Onwurah, Labour MP for Newcastle Central and Shadow Minister for Innovation, Science and Digital Infrastructure.

Also present will be Iain Wright, MP for Hartlepool and Keith Hodgkinson, Head of electronics, materials, chemicals and product regulation at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS), who will chair the last panel session.

Brian Tinham

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