A recent survey, by the EEF, of 400 manufacturing firms suggests that the positive run of output in British manufacturing is set to continue in 2015. Early orders are indicating a move back into positive territory.
With five product factories across the UK that deliver locks, window hardware, security doors and key and asset management solutions, ASSA ABLOY says that it has always been a stalwart of British manufacturing. Given a recent trend for ‘reshoring,’ which has seen one in six companies move production back to the UK between 2011 and 2014, the revival in UK manufacturing is not a surprise to manufacturers with all along a UK production centre.
Whilst many companies were initially enticed by the reduced overheads of emerging economies, as these markets come to maturity this is equally having the opposite affect, but cost is not the only reason for UK manufacturing to be back in fashion. Thereare product quality, skills and innovation, ease of customer communication and shorter, more responsive supply chains, says ASSA ABLOY, which is employing over 1000 people in the UK. A number of ASSA ABLOY’s products and solutions are manufactured 100pc in the UK, including UNION’s C-Series range that is made from raw materials, to despatch in the UK.
ASSA ABLOY’s Portobello site in Willenhall in the West Midlands, the historic centre of lock-making and locksmithing, also assembles all of the manufacturer’s master key systems and many thousands of multi-point locks and strikes a week.
Lee Philp, Head of Operations for ASSA ABLOY UK, said: “I am extremely proud of the manufacturing footprint we have retained in the UK, that enables us to think carefully about the quality and the continuity of the supply of our products to customers. In our own lives we all demand better service and the end users of our products are no different, which is why the service we provide to our distribution and locksmith partners is always at the forefront of my mind. At ASSA ABLOY we aim to offer proactive and professional communication and be easy to do business with. Fundamentally, we provide the ‘right product’ at the ‘right price’, ‘when’ and ‘where’ our customers need it.
“I have led many factory tours over the years and virtually all of the attendees are surprised by how much we still do in the UK. I invite all our customers to visit our sites to see UK lock manufacturing in action and to buy British where they can.”
Visit www.assaabloy.co.uk.
