Staying in business: Keeping the wheels of industry turning

Roger Haw, CEO of Flame Hardeners Ltd, gives his personal view on how a lack of commercial knowledge and business experience of those in the UK Government, and the consequent policies, are affecting British manufacturing.

01/10/2025 11:05:44

Few members (if any) of the current Government have experience of running a business either large or small, so maybe it is time to consider presenting a summary of the fundamentals.

Any manufacturing business has four basic areas to consider each working day:
1. It must have a product that people want to buy
2. It must set up a system to operate legally and meet all applicable statutory requirements.
3. It must have access to finances that will support the operation
4. It must have a manufacturing facility or have access to a manufacturing facility

Before any manufacturing even takes place, there are many costs to be met, regardless of anything actually being produced.

These can be simply summarised, noting at this stage that the business owner has no influence in any of them, except wages (which are supposedly negotiable):
• Wages
• Employers’ national insurance
• Employers’ pension contributions
• Business rates
• Standing charges for supply of utilities
• Health surveillance costs
• Lifting equipment inspection and certification costs
• Workshop transport inspection and entification
• Statutory inspections and certifications

All the above must be included in the cost of the ultimate product.

Now we can start manufacturing.