Our Manufacturing Sector employs roughly 39,000 workers, accounting for 16% of the jobs in Lincolnshire including agri-food manufacturing.
When it comes to the agri-food the industry is changing fast through developments on precision agriculture and farming, as well as the smart food processing. The industry is forever responding to these challenges with an intensified digitisation and the understanding of advanced technologies. All areas of industrial production need factory floor staff, supervisors, and managers to carry out and oversee the necessary practical work. Within many areas of manufacturing and production, essential work in research, product development, testing and experimentation needs to be carried out before production can occur. For instance, flavour technicians, who work in the food and drink industry, conduct experiments with combinations of chemicals and then carry out taste tests to conjure new flavours.
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Greater Lincolnshire is home to world-class manufacturing companies. This has played a part in providing a legacy of sites and skills, offering investors the opportunity to operate from a prime location that already boasts manufacturing and engineering strengths which encompass power engineering, metro chemicals & chemicals, steel manufacture, and motorsport engineering.
Across the region, there are over 2350 businesses operating in the exciting manufacturing and engineering industry, including power engineering, chemical, steel manufacturing and motorsport engineering. The sector delivers a direct economic value to the Greater Lincolnshire economy of £2.1 billion per year and employs approximately 41,000 people with growth taking place across several key areas, including engineering, chemicals, metals, and polymers. With many of these exporting around the globe; Greater Lincolnshire’s creations are being used across the world.
There is a strong focus across Lincolnshire on the agri-food sector of which combines agriculture and food manufacturing condensing it down to agri-tech (robotics) and the supply chain. In Greater Lincolnshire alone we have an international reputation for fish, food, and farming along with one of the largest concentrations of food manufacturing, research, storage, and distribution areas in Europe.
The agri-food market is huge and it’s expanding fast, the production line has created over 44 million jobs in the EU contributing to the wider agri-food market. Perhaps, the Effects on Brexit on Manufacturing Recruitment can hindered recruiting talented staff in to these roles. The short-term impact of Brexit on the food industry will result in food prices rising, although long term Brexit may affect the stability of factories leading to unemployment in the worst-case scenario. As it stands, 1/3 of the food manufacturing workers and 98% of seasonal workers are from the EU. This can impact the wage of British workers ultimately resulting in food price inflation. The “Office for Statistics (ONS)” reported on the 12 March stated that the first month alone spent outside of the EU seen goods exports between the UK and the EU had fallen by 40.7% in January, along with imports decreasing by 28.8%.
In total the food industry is therefore vital for providing 24% of jobs throughout Greater Lincolnshire to narrow it down, that’s (13% nationally) with 21% of its economic output. The future of the food & agri-food sector is looking strong, this sector will double its impact to the economy by 2030 through the ambitious programme of investment in productive capacity, skills, and knowledge.
Last year the demand for steel fell again, specifically during the coronavirus first lockdown in early 2020 as construction and manufacturing sectors stalled which left companies tackling liquidity issues. Although this sector has required further investment to meet decarbonisation targets which will eventually raise the cost of further production. This combination of competitive and high domestic costs made up many UK steel plants struggle in the global market close to the end of the Brexit period entering the pandemic. The industrial decarbonisation strategy sets out to make the industry line a whopping net zero while remaining competitive and without putting emissions abroad.
There is a 10-point plan for a green industrial revolution to set out a low carbon UK industrial sector in 2050, this will provide a long-term certainty it needs to invest in decarbonisation. Over the next decade we should begin the journey of shifting away from fossil fuels and use a low carbon substitute such as hydrogen and electrification, implementing key technologies like carbon capture, usage, and storage.
Within this innovate industry, businesses are always looking for passionate and creative people to add to the region’s manufacturing and engineering heritage.
Sources Used: Agri-food Sector | Greater Lincolnshire LEP
