British Made for Quality

BMFQ PROVED RIGHT – TIME AND TIME AGAIN

British Made for Quality (BMFQ), the campaign to keep manufacturing in Britain, has been lobbying and campaigning for the past five years for a level playing field on quality issues, costs of compliance and also for recognition from the British Government of the part that manufacturing plays in the health of the country’s finances.

The past week has proved conclusively that the assertions being made regarding the safety of products being supplied from Asia, the forced working conditions to drive down prices, and the need for Britain to have a more balanced economy including a revival of domestic manufacturing, have all come to fruition.

Mattel have been forced into a worldwide recall on a range of toys due to lead paint having being used. Lead paint has been banned for many years and there should be absolutely no way that this is used in toys for a major brand name like Mattel. In addition to this, toys have been found to contain small magnets that could be a choking hazard.

Last week Morrisons recalled their £3.99 toaster due to an electrical fault. This week Asda have recalled children’s bottles due to the caps breaking off. These are just a few incidents in the endless recalls of faulty products being supplied from Asia, mainly China. These have recently included car tyres, medicines, pet food, power tools and a host of other items where safety has been compromised.

BMFQ has regularly pointed out that it is a totally unacceptable situation where British manufacturers are being forced to accept higher and higher employment costs, with health & safety standards being increased on an almost monthly basis, whilst Chinese manufacturers seems to be able to operate with impunity, whilst risking the safety of the consumer. This is not a level playing field and the “cheap prices” are achieved through slave labour and potentially dangerous products.

The prices from China have recently been forced to increase when the Chinese government were forced by the WTO to drop the export grants that had been given to most exporters. Some of the grants were as high as 14% of the price of the product, meaning that the manufacturer could supply at a loss and still make a profit.

BMFQ warns that to try to remain competitive some companies will try to cut even more corners now that they have lost their grants. This will risk the public safety even more. Consumers need to be aware that what at first sight appear to be bargains can easily be unsafe products made by slave labour.

At the same time, BMFQ notes comments from the city pages that the recent turmoil over the credit crunch, with a possible fall-out in terms of jobs should the problems intensify, shows how much reliance the UK now places on service jobs in the finance industry and how quickly these could evaporate. The UK has lost a huge chunk of its manufacturing base and unless this is supported it will evaporate further. Manufacturing accounts for around 15% of GDP but 60% of exports. To keep a healthy current account position it is essential that exports remain strong. A healthy manufacturing base is the best way to ensure this is the case.

BMFQ calls on all consumers and retailers to support British manufacturing and to recognise that cheap does not mean value for money and in some circumstances can mean something considerably worse.

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For further information please contact Andy Smith, Director, BMFQ, on 07805 143040 or 01372 745000.

Rebuilding UK Manufacturing
Manufacturing generates 20% of the UK's GDP, employs 14% of the UK's entire workforce and accounts for £150 billion in exports, yet the Government is paying insufficient attention to manufacturing's problems which are crippling the sector.

Amicus contends that the government's last legislative programme included nothing to support manufacturing, yet Parliamentary time was devoted to relatively obscure issues such as village halls, food colourings and high hedges. Amicus is urging the government to introduce primary legislation to
support the backbone of the UK economy.

Derek Simpson, General Secretary of Amicus, said:
'Manufacturing is the backbone of the whole economy. Its earning, export and investment opportunities cannot be rivalled by any other sector and neither can its capacity to create new and skilled employment, yet it is being allowed to be exported lock, stock and barrel.

'If we want improvements in our public sector, manufacturing must be supported. Failure to do so is not only short-sighted, it's dangerous. Recent comments from the trade minister about how we should be happy to let these jobs seep abroad shows a failure to understand how critical things are.'

BBC GIVES BOOST TO "BRITISH MADE" MARK
The Campaign to Keep Manufacturing in Britain

BMFQ featured on BBC Breakfast Special 'British Identity' with comment "Special mark identifies those products genuinely made in Britain".

Valuable publicity for Britain’s beleaguered manufacturing sector came in the shape of the BBC’s breakfast-time news.

The programme featured Julian Baseley, managing director of the Guildford-based manufacturing company Earlex Ltd, which makes DIY and decorating products. Baseley also heads the British Made For Quality organisation [BMFQ] and in the programme he spoke to BBC reporter Brian Milligan about the need to support British industry and fight to keep jobs in Britain.

Earlex products such as steam wallpaper strippers and paint sprayguns, all marked with the distinctive red, white and blue British Made For Quality logo, will be shown on Monday’s programme. Various products made by other British manufacturers displaying the BMFQ mark – including the Lilliput Lane range of collective models, Ewbank carpet sweepers and Thomas Crapper bathroom fittings - will also be featured in the programme, and consumers will be urged to look out for the BMFQ mark on products in their local shops.

Part of a week-long series of news items on “Britishness” and national identity, Monday’s programme will examine how difficult it is for consumers to know which products are genuinely made in Britain and which are not. The BMFQ mark was developed precisely for this purpose, despite lack of Government or other “official” support for the campaign. Companies using the mark believe that it helps their sales and marketing both in the UK and in key export markets such as North America.

BUYING BRITISH
Published in Letters to the Editor, Marketing Week

Dear Sir,

The Marketing Week/Corporate Edge survey on perceptions of Britishness (cover story) confirms that the British brand still has an inherent strength and appeal, even among younger consumers. There is another side to this story - illustrated by the recent survey undertaken for the trade union, Amicus, which found that, across all age groups, 87% of UK consumers said that they would prefer to buy British when offered the choice.

The difficulty for consumers, however, comes in identifying products that are genuinely UK-made. Since the demise of 'Made in England' labelling and the move towards European branding, few UK manufacturers have been prepared to proclaim the British origins of their goods. Indeed, under EU rules imported goods need only be labelled with the importer's name and postcode, making it impossible for consumers to identify a product's country of origin.

The Dyson vacuum cleaner company - a British institution strongly associated with the modern entrepreneurial image of Britain - announced that it was shifting its production from Wiltshire to Malaysia (and this from a company whose founder, James Dyson, is an enthusiast for UK membership of the Single European Currency, claiming that joining the euro is the only way to safeguard British jobs). Moving production offshore, especially to the cheap-labour economies of Asia or Eastern Europe, may seem an attractive proposition for UK companies at first sight, but there are numerous hidden costs in abandoning Britain - in Dyson's case, most significantly, the loss of goodwill that comes from the growing perception that the company is being unpatriotic.

The problem is not just about UK companies shifting their manufacturing overseas. There are, however, deeper issues at work here. Britain's shift away from its longstanding role as a strong manufacturing and trading nation, to an overwhelmingly service-led economy actually endangers jobs and, ultimately, consumer safety, as goods flood in from Asia or Eastern Europe that are poorly-made and often sub-standard. Many such goods, emanating from China and elsewhere, are blatant rip-offs - illegal copies of British designed and patented products. Boosted by recent consumer surveys, such as your own, it is now up to those British manufacturers - regrettably a minority - who have kept their production facilities here in the UK, to trumpet their Britishness and their pride in the quality of their products.

Yours faithfully Andy Smith MCIJ MIPR
Director of Public Relations British Made for Quality (BMFQ)

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