Mark Goldstone
Head of Industrial Strategy, Confederation of British Industry
For years, industrial strategy in Britain felt like a reluctant afterthought: invoked during crises, quietly abandoned when politics shifted, but that’s beginning to change.
The Advanced Manufacturing Sector Plan, backed by the Government’s Modern Industrial Strategy, marks a return to long-term thinking about how the UK makes things, earns its living and competes in a tougher global economy.
Manufacturing’s path forward
Manufacturing is about the future of precision engineering, aerospace, life sciences, robotics and clean technologies — industries that underpin productivity, exports and national resilience. They also provide skilled, well-paid jobs and anchor economic activity in regions often locked out of growth.
The strategy acknowledges that Britain’s challenge has never been ideas or innovation — we remain world-class at R&D, but the gap is scale. Investment decisions are stalled by high energy costs, slow infrastructure delivery, skills shortages and policy uncertainty. Now, those barriers are being addressed together rather than in isolation.
Take energy. UK manufacturers have faced power costs that undermine competitiveness. The renewed focus on cheaper, cleaner energy isn’t just climate policy — it’s industrial policy done properly. Advanced manufacturing will be essential to the net zero transition, producing the batteries, grid equipment, wind turbines and heat pumps that decarbonisation demands. Making those technologies at home strengthens climate ambition and economic security.
Manufacturing clusters succeed when national ambition meets local leadership.
Emphasising skills is equally important
Modern manufacturing is increasingly digital and automated, creating demand for technicians, engineers and production specialists. This can support a new generation of high-quality industrial jobs and give communities a durable stake in growth.
Manufacturing clusters succeed when national ambition meets local leadership. With mayoral authorities gaining greater economic powers, the foundations are there for regions to shape investment, skills and infrastructure around their industrial strengths.
Delivery will be decisive, but the global context makes this moment different. The US and EU are investing heavily to anchor strategic industries such as semiconductors and defence technologies at home. Britain is no longer debating whether industrial policy is necessary, only whether it can be executed well. If momentum is maintained, manufacturing could once again become a pillar of a more productive, resilient and confident UK economy.
