5th July 2024
The UK general election on July 4th, 2024, resulted in a decisive victory for the Labour Party. Tony Hague, CEO of PP Control & Automation, shares his thoughts on the outcome.
There was no real surprise with today’s election result. Conservatives have paid a heavy price for many years of ineffectiveness, personified by the Liz Truss mini budget that rocked the economy and left many of us still paying the financial price. After 14 years of the same government, a change was almost inevitable.
In truth, the current Labour manifesto is fairly central and balanced, albeit the concern of increased taxes is always there.
From a UK manufacturing perspective, we await with interest what positive steps they may take in the short and long-term. Some relatively easy decisions that could have a big impact, include a revised R&D policy, a review on Corporation Tax and more sustained support for SMEs around export.
Now the election is over, we must see positive and bold action from the Bank of England, and this should start with interest rate cuts to stimulate the economy and reduce the cost of borrowing.
Personally, I would welcome some real incentives around the housing market. If we see a strong construction sector, the rest of the economy generally follows.
One of the UK’s leading strategic manufacturing specialists is tapping into the UK’s unprecedented investment in upgrading the electricity grid.
As Britain accelerates investment in grid infrastructure, protection and control capacity could become a critical delivery constraint.
The appointment of a new Prime Minister inevitably brings renewed debate about the direction of the UK economy and what it could mean for business.
Ian Knight, Chief Information Officer at PP Control & Automation (PP C&A) challenges the prevailing, often vague narrative around AI adoption and reframes the conversation around a more practical starting point: operational constraints.
Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant concept for manufacturers. It is already being explored across quotation, production planning, engineering, quality, supply chain and customer service functions. Yet, for many organisations, the gap between experimentation and meaningful operational impact remains difficult to close.
A leading aquaculture specialist – that is changing the way fish are vaccinated safely – has signed a major manufacturing deal.
On paper, defined discipline-specific suppliers can look organised. However, every additional supplier introduces another handoff, and every handoff creates another point where time, quality, communication and accountability can be lost.
Very rarely does growth not surface because an OEM lacks ambition. Shortcomings arise because operating models built to support such ambition don’t evolve quickly enough.
