Thread: Shock news - Britain still makes things

You might have been aware that Britain was one of the world's biggest chemical producers, thanks to companies such as GlaxoSmithkline, AstraZeneca and the thriving biotech firms that cluster around universities. You probably knew we sold plenty of Scotch and ale overseas. But did you know that the UK exports more iron and steel than it imports; that it has a massive trade surplus in power-generating machinery, including boilers and furnaces; that it is a prime destination for anyone who wants to order specialised technical machinery? Whether it is cars or rolling stock, computer chips or specially designed cogs or washers, much of it is made in Britain: the chip in the heart of Apple's iPods was created in Edinburgh; the new trains being rolled out on the London Underground are made not in Germany but Derby.

I think this country long ago lost its confidence. Too many people seem to think it got to where it did in the past just through subjugating a few tribes instead of through its contributions in shaping the modern world over the past 1000 years.




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Originally Posted by mac1

You might have been aware that Britain was one of the world's biggest chemical producers, thanks to companies such as GlaxoSmithkline, AstraZeneca and the thriving biotech firms that cluster around universities. You probably knew we sold plenty of Scotch and ale overseas. But did you know that the UK exports more iron and steel than it imports; that it has a massive trade surplus in power-generating machinery, including boilers and furnaces; that it is a prime destination for anyone who wants to order specialised technical machinery? Whether it is cars or rolling stock, computer chips or specially designed cogs or washers, much of it is made in Britain: the chip in the heart of Apple's iPods was created in Edinburgh; the new trains being rolled out on the London Underground are made not in Germany but Derby.

I think this country long ago lost its confidence. Too many people seem to think it got to where it did in the past just through subjugating a few tribes instead of through its contributions in shaping the modern world over the past 1000 years.




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We still make things and are the largest outdoor lighting company in the UK, and we export all over the world. In fact we have just had one of our best trading years.

True we do still make things unfortunately just not on the scale of 50 years ago.

Edited because brain cell went AWOL

A bloke in Taiwan recently told me that Britain is at the forefront of microprocessor design. Not sure if that's true, but given he worked for a Taiwanese electronic engineering firm I'm prepared to accept he knew what he was talking about until proved otherwise.

Originally Posted by smartascarrots

A bloke in Taiwan recently told me that Britain is at the forefront of microprocessor design. Not sure if that's true, but given he worked for a Taiwanese electronic engineering firm I'm prepared to accept he knew what he was talking about until proved otherwise.

Er, yes by light years. Your mobile more than likely contains a UK designed and built ARM chip.

Originally Posted by fozzy

Originally Posted by smartascarrots

A bloke in Taiwan recently told me that Britain is at the forefront of microprocessor design. Not sure if that's true, but given he worked for a Taiwanese electronic engineering firm I'm prepared to accept he knew what he was talking about until proved otherwise.

Er, yes by light years. Your mobile more than likely contains a UK designed and built ARM chip.

This is a well-kept secret. Please don't publicise and let Brown know or the whole 'set-up' will be taxed out of Britain.

Originally Posted by fozzy

Originally Posted by smartascarrots

A bloke in Taiwan recently told me that Britain is at the forefront of microprocessor design. Not sure if that's true, but given he worked for a Taiwanese electronic engineering firm I'm prepared to accept he knew what he was talking about until proved otherwise.

Er, yes by light years. Your mobile more than likely contains a UK designed and built ARM chip.

Based in Cherry Hinton Cambridge. Nortel at Harlow are at the forefront of communications, it was the where communications with fibre optics was pioneered plus they have designed a lot of the military comms systems as well.

A lot of the F1 technologies which later find their way into regular cars are developed in the UK.

Apparently we are also very adept at manufacturing w@ank politicians.

The main problem we have is how to keep the heavy industries going, with everyone now having an expectation of going on to Uni we seem to have lost the manual skills required to make things be it chairs, houses, ships etc.

Apprenticeships seem very thin on the ground and I know when we require welders we can really struggle to get welders of a decent standard. Even our apprentices sometimes don't have the patience to learn the skills required that do take a number of years to learn.

I think that schools should start to focus on the reality that not everybody is cut out for Uni and it is not a disaster if you don't make the grade and there are alternatives such as welding, turning, sheetmetal working etc that may suit some of the kids that are not academic in nature.

Originally Posted by re-stilly

The main problem we have is how to keep the heavy industries going, with everyone now having an expectation of going on to Uni we seem to have lost the manual skills required to make things be it chairs, houses, ships etc.

Apprenticeships seem very thin on the ground and I know when we require welders we can really struggle to get welders of a decent standard. Even our apprentices sometimes don't have the patience to learn the skills required that do take a number of years to learn.

I think that schools should start to focus on the reality that not everybody is cut out for Uni and it is not a disaster if you don't make the grade and there are alternatives such as welding, turning, sheetmetal working etc that may suit some of the kids that are not academic in nature.

I think there's a cultural thing in this country regarding definition of "success", the thing to get into is law or medicine.

I've been saying much the same thing for years.
Where Britain loses out on labour costs it is more than made up for by huge efficiency and clever innovation.

We have the skills and abilities in this country to lead the wold in many areas of industry, its just not fashionable these days.

Originally Posted by re-stilly

I think that schools should start to focus on the reality that not everybody is cut out for Uni and it is not a disaster if you don't make the grade and there are alternatives such as welding, turning, sheetmetal working etc that may suit some of the kids that are not academic in nature.

I've been banging the same drum for long enough. I wouldn't attribute it to lack of confidence as an earlier poster did, though. I'd put it down to snobbery and aspirations of social climbing: Brits want their kids to work behind a nice comfy desk instead of getting their hands dirty*.

A generation or two ago, engineers were almost on the same social standing as the traditional professions - now it's almost seen as a mugs game to do something difficult. Evidence, the take-up rates of engineering degree programmes vs. BA (Hons) Fluffy-bunnies-and-sugababes-studies.

*Typed with nice, clean hands from behind a comfy desk. :D

But it is only a recent definition, if you go back 30-40 years the culture was very much get a trade. I know when I left school in the early 80's very few went to Uni but went onto get a trade and out of my immediate friends none of us went to Uni, 4 joined the services, one went into computers from school, 2 became brickies, one became a chef. All of us have not been "failures" of society and we have all become quite successful or well off in our own right through application and hard work.

failure to go to Uni does not mean failure in life but it seems current education targets do not see it that way and that is why we end up with demoralised kids who fail to get into uni complain that they have no future instead of trying to get a trade.

I never understood the socialist dogma and drive to equip all kids with worthless degrees instead of some sort of real-world skill - you'd think they'd want to rebuild their glory days of unions of industrial workers, etc.

Originally Posted by 4(T)

I never understood the socialist dogma and drive to equip all kids with worthless degrees instead of some sort of real-world skill - you'd think they'd want to rebuild their glory days of unions of industrial workers, etc.

The problem with the socialist dogma that it is written by middle class socialists who went to Uni therefore for everyone to be equal you have to go to Uni (probably a bit to general a statement). The thing we are lacking is skills, we lost most of our shipbuilding and other heavy industry therefore leaving a big skills vacuum and once the older generation retires or dies off those skills are lost forever, even skills such as hedgelaying, thatching, are in massive decline but are also in demand.

We have the natural resources still (coal, iron ore, lead ore, tin) to still be able to make things from scratch. We have the inventiveness and creativity to design world leading products.