After a yearlong consultation period with its existing members, including the UK’s leading manufacturing businesses, The Manufacturers' Alliance has rolled out not just a fresh new look but also an extensive range of learning experiences within their new business model.
SME manufacturing businesses are the foundation to the UK economy. Five percent of businesses in the UK are manufacturing businesses, supporting 10% of employment and 14% of turnover across the UK for 2020.1 A staggering 99.9% of businesses in the UK are SMEs.2 And many sectors are wholly reliant on the manufacturing sector and its supply chain to survive. Without the manufacturing sector, we would lose a mighty chunk of the UK economy and a strong foundation capable of competing on the world stage.
On 19 May 2021, the Manufacturers' Alliance launched a new business model to support progressive owners and managers in the manufacturing sector. Since incorporation in 2013, the Manufacturers' Alliance has built a community of eight peer support groups for owners and senior leaders in the manufacturing sector, delivering game-changing results for many of its customers.
The new business model offers the width and depth of support ambitious manufacturers have requested over a 12-month long rebrand and consultation: an Academy focused on leadership and management development for front line and middle managers; regular thought leadership events sharing topical best practice; and hands-on support where the Manufacturers Alliance team get involved to help manufacturers deliver the results they are aspiring to achieve.
The Manufacturers' Alliance has a genuine passion for their cause supporting manufacturing business leaders in breaking through boundaries and seeing the sector thrive over the next century. They believe that the UK economy will struggle without a strong manufacturing base and are keen to do their best to boost the trend towards positive growth in the sector.
Neil Ashton, managing director at Packaging Automation, shared his thoughts on the new business model: “I think the new model makes perfect sense. Getting involved with the Manufacturers' Alliance is the best thing we have ever done. We have been working with them for 8 years and their level of service is always world class. The new approach offers flexibility and means that we can develop more of our team in line with our growth ambitions in the Alliance’s unique way. And like any business, you can’t solve all problems on your own, so having someone with experience get involved to help you make the changes you need to grow is a win–win for us.”
The founder and managing director of the Manufacturers' Alliance, Gary Sheader, feels that the new business model is ideal for any manufacturing business owner with a progressive mindset: “The people we have attracted and retained as customers over the past 8 years have been manufacturing business owners and managers with a passion to grow and develop themselves and their businesses. We are lucky to work with a lot of manufacturing people who understand the fundamentals of running a progressive business. They know that standing still is not an option and you have to continue to improve to survive. To them standing still means you are going backwards. They want support from us that helps them continue to move forward, which means we need to be constantly innovating and evolving our offer.
“Offering the additional support to develop the front-line managers and middle managers in the sector has been welcomed with open arms by our customers, and we can see this working for more manufacturers across the North of England and Wales. They want training that delivers tangible results — behavioural change and improved business performance. And our Academy does just that.
“We currently have a team of 18 people that that have held successful careers in the sector that want to give back and help others. The capability we have in the team is like nothing else in the UK, and we want to share that with people that have an appetite for change and growth.”