8 March 2016
Dick Elsy joined a panel chaired by Terry Scuoler – CEO of EEF, and comprising Jurgen Maier – CEO of Siemens UK, Mike Hawes – CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMTT), Matthew Elliot – CEO of Business for Britain, and Alan Halsall – CEO, Silver Cross, to discuss how manufacturing and trade would be affected by Brexit.
Dick Elsy joined a panel chaired by Terry Scuoler – CEO of EEF, and comprising Jurgen Maier – CEO of Siemens UK, Mike Hawes – CEO of the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMTT), Matthew Elliot – CEO of Business for Britain, and Alan Halsall – CEO, Silver Cross, to discuss how manufacturing and trade would be affected by Brexit.
Dick Elsy, chief executive of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult said: “We can access significantly more innovation capability working within the collaborative community of the EU.
“In advanced manufacturing we also have recruitment challenges. We’re not producing enough British engineers to fill the vacancies we have, and it’s engineers from across Europe who help us address that.”
Maier said: “For Siemens the UK would not be interesting enough as a country on its own. We are interested in developing R&D and technology. The UK is an attractive market. But after we’ve developed we want to export the technology around the world, and by developing it just to British standards we would not be able to do that.
“This is not about protecting what we have today. For our 13 factories to be able to thrive in the future they need to be influencing what the future of their industry is going to look like. They need to be involved in R&D across borders and play in role in setting standards.”