Ceptic Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 Another reminder of the '80s. http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/....., seems another British icon could be biting the dust. Without getting political, can anyone add to the lists ? :- In no particular order British Rail British Steel (The best) BAC (Concorde) BREL GKN NCB BRS Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd. LCC BMC (Hmmm ?) What I'm getting at, is, since the '80s, Britain has relied on the so-called 'Service Industry' (Industry ??), and North Sea oil, to keep our heads above water. Now,, as those so-called services have failed. What are we left with ? Jaguar / Land Rover Honda Toyota Oh yeah, Rolls-Royce after 1 or 2 bail-outs. Any comments are more than welcome. Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted October 24, 2012 Share Posted October 24, 2012 BAES Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted October 24, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 24, 2012 Jaguar Land Rover is owned by an Indian company and I am amazed production hasn't gone overseas (yet) The London Taxi firm has all but gone down the pan this week The Vulcan Bomber will be grounded for good from next year. A Transit not built in Southampton will never be a proper Transit as far as I am concerned. I well remember on the local news once that the Police were, in connection with an armed robbery looking for a "white Transit van near junction 6 of the M27" which didn't exactly narrow down the field a bit!! The Transit factory has been steadily dying piece by piece for years and if Ford can easily get rid of the Genk factory in Belgium, then the 500 employee facility at Southampton with its ageing buildings won't trouble them with any closure decision sadly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold PhilH Posted October 24, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 24, 2012 white Transit van near junction 6 of the M27" which didn't exactly narrow down the field a bit!! .. especially as there is no Junction 6 on the M27 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AndyB Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Wasn't British Rail a service industry too? But without getting political I believe that the majority (or a very large proportion) of people work in firms that are essentially SMEs, not the big ticket items in the OP. (ok a proportion of these are tertiary suppliers to big firms on capital projects) Sure there's a need for a mixture but don't write off the country because the loss of some big institutions. Take a look at the firms in the "British Made for Quality" directory to see examples of SMEs making their products in Great Britain (aka the UK). And don't forget the small scale and cottage-industry manufacturers that appear on RMweb. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
arran Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 HI All So production will go to Turkey ,lets think on that, Less red tape overheads and probably cheaper power as well. For Ford that will be a No brainer as there all over the world with factories. Things come things go, sad yes but thats life. Regards Arran Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meil Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 HI All So production will go to Turkey ,lets think on that, Less red tape overheads and probably cheaper power as well. For Ford that will be a No brainer as there all over the world with factories. Things come things go, sad yes but thats life. Regards Arran The majority of Transits are already made in Turkey and have been for some time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ron Ron Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Jaguar Land Rover is owned by an Indian company and I am amazed production hasn't gone overseas (yet).... I'm surprised too. Maybe it's just a matter of time? The Transit factory has been steadily dying piece by piece for years...... Very true. Ford workers and local politicians have fought against complete closure on a couple of previous occasions in the last decade or so. On each occasion the plant and workforce has been reduced in size, to the point where the factory is a shadow of its glory days. .. especially as there is no Junction 6 on the M27 Whatever happened to the M273 ? . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Another reminder of the '80s. http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/....., seems another British icon could be biting the dust. Without getting political, can anyone add to the lists ? :- In no particular order GKN Any comments are more than welcome. Regards. ? Last time I looked they were going strong. I do have a personal interest as I once held some almost worthless shares in a US company. GKN took it over and paid a mind boggling price for them. Re the motor trade and Turkey. Quite a lot of the tooling used in UK factories has been made in Turkey for at least the past 20 years. Odd how the Japanese like to manufacture cars in the UK while the traditional firms want to move out. Bernard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted October 25, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 25, 2012 Closure now confirmed: http://www.dailyecho.co.uk/news/10006351.FORD_TRANSIT_FACTORY_WILL_CLOSE/ I live nearby, and feel it will be a loss to Southampton. No doubt the site will be redeveloped in time. The original 1939 buildings were an aircraft parts factory run by Cunliffe Owen. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APOLLO Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 Race to the bottom - the UK is winning. Nuff said. Commiserations to all those affected. Brit15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ron Ron Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I know someone who works there. He escaped the cull last time round, but sadly this is the end of the line for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium John M Upton Posted October 25, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 25, 2012 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-20083272 And a large chunk of Dagenham is going as well, no one saw that coming yesterday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenton Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 What surprised me about the announcement and all the hype speculation that came with it was some announcement that Ford had not made anyone redundant in the UK for over 60years! If true, along with the announcement of the creation of some jobs elsewhere, I wonder how many might be relocated. But like any global business they have to move with the times - they are not a charity. If cars/vans can be made cheaper and distributed elsewhere then that is the correct move. Vehicles these days seem to have a longer life (better built?) so the need to build thousands just to rot in a big car park no longer makes any sense - if it ever did. Manufacture is now more technologically driven and new plants are cheaper to build than updating old plants and if you need to retrain your workforce then why not retrain from a low labor cost base. not pleasant for those impacted but I guess at least it affects "the south" for a change. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glorious NSE Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 I'm surprised too. Maybe it's just a matter of time? Jags, Range Rovers, Mini's have a huge overseas sale value based on them being stylish and British (well, at least British-ish) - so making them elsewhere would damage the brands. Mini is BMW and was a brand new product, so could much more easily have been built in a German plant you would presume, but they chose to do that here to cash in... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptic Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 ? Last time I looked they were going strong. I do have a personal interest as I once held some almost worthless shares in a US company. GKN took it over and paid a mind boggling price for them. Re the motor trade and Turkey. Quite a lot of the tooling used in UK factories has been made in Turkey for at least the past 20 years. Odd how the Japanese like to manufacture cars in the UK while the traditional firms want to move out. Bernard iSTR GKN's redundant employees standing outside the factory gates, complaining about the company's holiday / hike in contributing to their pension fund. Profits gained by overseas mergers / moves, do nothing for your British craftsmen/women. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold gwrrob Posted October 25, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted October 25, 2012 This is something that the UK is world class at.Exporting jobs.The list is endless and if you don't manufacture anything you become a third world country. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptic Posted October 25, 2012 Author Share Posted October 25, 2012 Wasn't British Rail a service industry too? But without getting political I believe that the majority (or a very large proportion) of people work in firms that are essentially SMEs, not the big ticket items in the OP. (ok a proportion of these are tertiary suppliers to big firms on capital projects) Sure there's a need for a mixture but don't write off the country because the loss of some big institutions. Take a look at the firms in the "British Made for Quality" directory to see examples of SMEs making their products in Great Britain (aka the UK). And don't forget the small scale and cottage-industry manufacturers that appear on RMweb. Andy Yes, British Rail was a 'service industry', but it was also a ;hands on' manufacturing base, employing many an innovative brain. Like any idea, originally British, these are now proffered / given away to cut-price, overseas, competitors. I know, alls fair in 'competitive' law, but, isn't it time that we spent more time considering what we lose, as opposed to what we gain ? It has oft been quoted that to lose a 'main ticket' British manufacturer, will also impact on their suppliers, and their suppliers, down the chain, some of them small business's./ cottage industries Isn't it about time the rot is stopped ? Regards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Max Stafford Posted October 25, 2012 Share Posted October 25, 2012 This is something that the UK is world class at.Exporting jobs.The list is endless and if you don't manufacture anything you become a third world country. What makes you think we aren't one already? ;-) Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Horsetan Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 What makes you think we aren't one already? ;-) Should that not be Turd World? I think they still make toilets near Stoke-on-Trent... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bernard Lamb Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 iSTR GKN's redundant employees standing outside the factory gates, complaining about the company's holiday / hike in contributing to their pension fund. Profits gained by overseas mergers / moves, do nothing for your British craftsmen/women. Pension changes are inevitable. It is unfair to single out any one company regarding that issue. As for profits gained from overseas mergers, without them and the new technology they provided the conventional heavy and medium industry side of the UK business would have gone down the pan years ago. Ironically we have a case with GKN of a british company buying up overseas companies to make money for the UK. The net number of jobs that they have created in the UK must add up to a considerable total. A big difference from foreign owned companies bleeding the country dry. I find it interesting to see the particular branch of the business that I was involved with about around 25 years ago now finding an application in model railways. (The output from 3 D printing) Bernard Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oggy1953 Posted October 26, 2012 Share Posted October 26, 2012 Job centres are booming. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptic Posted October 27, 2012 Author Share Posted October 27, 2012 Closure now confirmed: http://www.dailyecho...ORY_WILL_CLOSE/ I live nearby, and feel it will be a loss to Southampton. No doubt the site will be redeveloped in time. The original 1939 buildings were an aircraft parts factory run by Cunliffe Owen. Pete Also used for Spitfire production IIRC. I find this setting, most ironic. Regards. Edited to correct deformation & sharpen original pic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium petethemole Posted October 27, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted October 27, 2012 Maybe it could have been mounted on a more appropriate orientation. Pete Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptic Posted October 27, 2012 Author Share Posted October 27, 2012 Maybe it could have been mounted on a more appropriate orientation. Pete Not 'flying away' from ?. surely not ?.....I'd have a camouflaged Mk.1 Spit., with all guns blazing . .... Better the showroom was Rolls Royce, or not there at all ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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