Weathering the storm

British industry has lost a million jobs in the past decade and is now facing a recession, but the government says it still has every chance of a rosy future. Bob Cervi assesses how the manufacturing sector will batten down its hatches. The UK government's much-trailed strategy to boost British manufacturing, unveiled last month, has little in it that is brand new. However, even if it includes various initiatives that are already at different stages of development, organisations from across industry have welcomed the move. The strategy is described by the government's department for business and enterprise, BERR, as a "bringing together" of a range of activities to create a "new framework". This programme will cost £150m, although it isn't clear how this sum breaks down or how much of it is genuinely new money. But where do small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) fit into this analysis? Well, another hot word is 'clustering', and the BERR document advises such firms to look to forming geographical clusters in regions of the UK, alongside suppliers and universities, so that together they can form a critical mass to attract investors and access the lastest ideas and technology.