Post-investment problems
One West Yorkshire-based manufacturer that has invested in preparing to supply the UK nuclear industry is Halifax Fan, a company that has expanded to China and has established a sales office in Bangkok.
Malcolm Staff, managing director of the company says to companies facing post-investment problems in the UK and elsewhere: "Get on your bikes like Halifax Fan has done, and go sell to those countries and contractors who have seen the future and are actually building nuclear power plants. Don’t rely on the UK government or you’ll wait a long time while they prevaricate and procrastinate.” With emerging economies like China and India seemingly much more focused on providing constantly increasing energy demands, moving operations elsewhere seems like the sensible thing to do. However, in a Financial Times article in early June, Staff commented on the fact that many foreign customers still want their fans made in Britain. "We tend to forget that Brand Britain is worth shouting about,” he says. "It is so disappointing to go to trade fairs and find just one or two British companies but dozens of other Europeans. Italian and French companies, in particular, are much better supported [by their governments].” Staff’s comments should be a comfort to those companies worried about wasted investments in nuclear supply preparation.
The global market is full of opportunity for UK advanced manufacturing.