Materials and Innovation Vital to SME Support
Chris McDonald puts forward the case for materials and innovation to support SMEs in a letter published in The Northern Echo and Darlington & Stockton Times following on from the speech given by Greg Clarke, Business Secretary at the recent Conservative Party Conference.
THE recent speech by Greg Clark, the Business Secretary, at the Conservative Party Conference demonstrated his commitment to supporting innovation for its capacity to both generate business and encourage and strengthen existing enterprise.
The knowledge-base, skill sets and experience in our region offer an opportunity for us to seize on this agenda and utilise the devolution deal and the Tees Valley Combined Authority to position ourselves at the forefront of the emerging industrial strategy and Northern Powerhouse agenda.
Mr Clark was right to stress the importance of small and medium size enterprises and a diverse business offer in a future national economy and particularly so here, in the North-East, where we have been historically reliant on large, industrial employers.
The metals and materials sector are principal competencies in the North-East, and could be at the forefront of Mr Clark's "scientific powerhouse".
In my role as innovation lead for the metals council we have identified the urgent need for what I refer to as continuous, relentless innovation in the UK metals and materials sector, keeping it at the front of the global stage.
Our UK industrial strategy needs to recognise the need for both strength and depth in supply chains and focus on cross-cutting areas, such as materials and innovation. To do that we need to give more support to innovative SMEs so that they can grow and be more successful.
Chris McDonald, Chief Executive Officer Materials Processing Institute
Read on the Darlington & Stockton Times website
Read on the Northern Echo website
10 October 2016
