Taking on China - it's a beancounter's decision

Posted by Flying Scotsman on Fri, 18/05/2012 - 11:22 in Blogs 483 4 comments | report

The BBC aired an interesting experiment by a firm in UK that had opened in China and wanted to bring back manufacturign to UK. It is called The Town Taking on China or something similar. Interestingly enough the idea came from the boss who kept seeing wages rise but it wasn't clear if he had consulted his accountants or was running on a gut feeling.

I currently manufacture in Turkey and have decided to look for a UK alternative. Turkey itself is cheaper for us than China and is of course closer. But we still are bedevilled by lead times and when a recent container did arrive HM Customs impouned it for a week to check it. They found no Kurds hidden inside and charged me for the privilege of telling me that.

So we await the outcome of finding a UK firm to supply ,either as an alternative or a replacement . I wonder how many firms out there aren't even thinking about moving to UK and don't dicuss it with their accountant OR how many accountanst don't challenge their clients about trying it out. One thing we do well and have a reputation for is quality , so let's revive Made in Britain , with accountants in the forefront of the decision making.

Comments

I am with you all the way on this one :)

ShirleyM | Fri, 18/05/2012 - 14:46 | Permalink

Every individual and business (large & small) should be encouraged to look in the UK before looking abroad.

China

Flying Scotsman | Fri, 18/05/2012 - 15:15 | Permalink

The trouble is that there is a herd mentality . I remember it with the property market .

When we sought a manufacturer we considered China as a first point of contact and at the same time I was aware from reports in The Economist that things were heading out of control with costs there ie the country and its workers were "growing up". I realsied we were too late

According to the textbook manufacturing will move to somewhere else cheaper in Asia but a small company lacks the resources to move from place to place unlike a multinational that has resources to post senior staff to oversee it all.

There is so much opportunity here for accountants to advise their clients about thinking out of the box. If the government isn't waving the flag then the profession should do so !

By the may I am "Made in Scotland" (not Britain) :-)

I guess there is always someone who will do/make

justsotax | Mon, 21/05/2012 - 09:33 | Permalink

it cheaper.....just wonder about the quality. Just look at call centres (and possibly the bookkeeping sent overseas) - not always gives what is promised.

Quite agree with the comments - buy british....and think outside the box (to try and buy british/maintain high standards etc....)

Buying Birtish

Flying Scotsman | Mon, 21/05/2012 - 09:58 | Permalink

I have noticed that many firms are now advertising British call centres .

I must admit to frustration at trying to explain myself to somebody on a crackly line in Timbuctoo

who cannot understand my Glasgow accent. You can feel their frustration at my frustration which is a vicious circle and not fair to anybody.

One of the problems of being in the EU is that you cannot trumpet "made in Britain" but must state made in "EU" - I think this is the case but am happy to be corrected if wrong.

We do a lot of things well here so made in Britiain is no longer the joke it used to be

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