This item was published during the term of a previous administration that ended in April 2007
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Report on state of Scottish manufacturing
24/02/2003
A report by the Scottish Manufacturing Steering Group, Nurturing Wealth Creation, is published today.
Enterprise Minister Iain Gray, speaking after meeting members of the group, said:
"I reconvened the Scottish Manufacturing Steering Group in August last year to consider what further could be done to assist the manufacturing sector in Scotland. The Group was set a tight timetable to report and I am pleased that under Dr Masters' leadership they have managed to do so.
"I would like to thank all the members of the Group for their hard work. I shall be carefully considering all the recommendations of the Group and responding formally in due course."
Dr Chris Masters, chairman of the group, said:
"I was delighted to accept the Minister's invitation to chair the reconvened Scottish Manufacturing Steering Group and I am pleased that we have today been able to deliver our report Nurturing Wealth Creation.
"The report recognises that there are no 'quick fixes' to the problems facing manufacturers in Scotland. We therefore encourage Ministers, not only to set clear aims, objectives and timetables, but also to concentrate on implementing, as quickly as possible, long-term policies aimed at nurturing and promoting an environment in Scotland in which wealth creation is encouraged and valued for the benefit of both the country and its people.
"Rather than attempt to engage in a detailed strategic debate, the Group decided to focus its efforts on identifying a limited number of key areas of concern to manufacturers currently operating in Scotland.
"On the basis of views gathered from those actually involved in manufacturing at the 'coal-face', a general consensus emerged as to the priorities for creating a competitive environment for long-term wealth creation.
"In terms of Government action, the current and proposed fiscal regime, including business rates, the inadequate transport infrastructure and the apparently ever-increasing amount of regulation and 'red tape' were identified as key areas.
"There was also a feeling that more could be done by the Executive to promote both Scottish manufacturing and indeed Scottish business in general.
"As far as action by business is concerned, the major areas of improvement focused on the need to improve employee skills at all levels, but specifically those of senior management and of the people tasked with providing leadership.
"None of these areas are in themselves new, but they are nevertheless important and they do require action.
"There appears to be a general feeling of 'initiative overload' throughout the business community. Consequently, we have resisted the temptation to come up with yet another raft of new initiatives focused on individual business sectors. Rather we have attempted to limit our recommendations to issues relevant to the majority of Scottish manufacturing businesses.
I commend this report to the Minister and look forward to his response."
The Minister reconvened the Scottish Manufacturing Steering Group (SMSG) under the chairmanship of Dr Masters following the GDP estimates in August 2002.
The group was asked to:
- audit Created in Scotland's progress
- note subsequent policy developments
- identify further actions required to support manufacturing, as appropriate
The Scottish Manufacturing Steering Group was originally set up by the former Enterprise Minister, Henry McLeish MSP in 1999 to advise the Executive on how best to support Scottish manufacturing.
Created in Scotland was subsequently published in 2000 and lists over 50 initiatives covering: business environment; knowledge and technology; science base and its commercialisation; skills and people; and images and attitudes.
In addition to Dr Masters, the reconvened SMSG consists of 22 members drawn from business organisations, trade associations, manufacturing companies and trade unions.
Nurturing Wealth Creation makes 33 recommendations to the Scottish Executive, the UK Government and to businesses themselves covering the following key areas:
- Financial support
- Fiscal regime
- Business rates
- Regulations & red tape
- Physical infrastructure
- Image & communicating policy
- Skills base
- Increasing business effectiveness
After completing a PhD in chemistry in 1971, Dr Chris Masters CBE worked for Shell in fundamental research and corporate planning. He joined Christian Salvesen in 1979 as Business Development Manager and, in the early 1980s, was involved in the company's expansion into the USA. Following his return to the UK, he led the negotiations leading up to the acquisition of Aggreko and, in July 1985, was appointed Managing Director of the newly formed Industrial Services Division. In October 1989 he was appointed Chief Executive of Christian Salvesen PLC.
Following the company's demerger in September 1997, he left Christian Salvesen to become Executive Chairman of Aggreko plc. He retired from Aggreko in May 2002. Since then he has been appointed Chairman of the Babtie Group Ltd and of Voxar Ltd. In addition he is a non-executive director of the John Wood Group PLC, The Alliance Trust PLC and British Assets Trust PLC.
Dr Masters also chairs the Higher Educational Funding Council and the Festival City Theatres Trust and is a member of the Board of the Scottish Chamber Orchestra.