UK manufacturers divided on capacity to meet sovereign push, survey shows

UK Manufacturers Split on Ability to Meet Sovereign Capacity Demands, Survey Reveals

Survey Highlights and Industry Response

April 20 (Reuters) - British manufacturers give a patchy picture of their ability to ramp up output should the government need to mobilise key industries, a survey showed on Monday.

Government Efforts to Restore Industrial Capacity

Britain is redoubling efforts to restore domestic industrial capacity in sectors deemed strategically critical - from defence to energy - as it seeks to reduce dependence on foreign supply chains laid bare by the war in Iran.

Survey Findings from the Manufacturing Technologies Association

The survey from the Manufacturing Technologies Association, a trade body, showed many manufacturers would face financial and capacity constrains, as well as long lead times, in any government push to raise sovereign capacity quickly.

Manufacturers' Capacity to Ramp Up Output

• 38% of manufacturers surveyed said they could ramp up capacity within 0-3 months, and a further 18% said it would take 3-6 months
• More than a quarter of respondents said they had no desire to support a need to boost sovereign manufacturing capacity
• 29% said they would be unable to add capacity if asked, and 24% said they could add up to 15%, while 12% said they could add more than 50% of capacity

Barriers to Increasing Capacity

• Access to funding was the top-ranked barrier to raising capacity, followed by lack of space

Impact of Government Industrial Strategy

• 55% of companies said the government's industrial strategy had made no impact on their company and they could not see any way that it could in future

Survey Demographics

• The survey of 358 manufacturers - comprising 50% small, 28% and medium and 22% large companies - took place between March 11 and April 6

(Reporting by Andy Bruce; editing by Suban Abdulla)