Olympic Opportunities For The Automotive Sector: ‘Make It In Great Britain’ & Olympic Business Legacy Programme
The Olympic and Paralympic games are taking place in London between 27 July and 9 September 2012. BIS, UKTI and Number 10 have launched two initiatives that want to use the Olympics to engage global investors as well as home audiences in a series of events and exhibitions to demonstrate the ‘Best of British’ manufacturing and showcase the UK as an exciting place to invest, innovate, manufacture or choose a career in engineering in.
This paper summarises the key activities associated with the BIS-led ‘Make it in Great Britain’ campaign and the Olympic business legacy programme run by UKTI and No 10 and highlights the opportunities for members to participate in the two initiatives.
1. ‘Make it in Great Britain’ Campaign: Science Museum Exhibition – Champions – Challenge
BIS leads on the ‘Make it in Great Britain’ Campaign (MIIGB), launched in November 2011http://www.makeitingreatbritain.bis.gov.uk/ , which aims to transform outdated views of UK manufacturing and dispel the myth that Britain ‘doesn’t make anything anymore’. The new government campaign is sponsored by Secretary of State Vince Cable and Business Minister Mark Prisk and culminates in an exhibition at the Science Museum (24 July – 9 Sept) during the Olympics Games, celebrating the best of modern British manufacturing and its positive impact on people’s lives. The exhibition will showcase cutting-edge products and processes from across the manufacturing sector that are made or designed in Britain. The deadline for expressions of interest in exhibiting has passed and BIS are currently in the process of assessing EOIs. However, there will be opportunities for hosting fringe events, breakfasts, debates or other speaking opportunities that will be confirmed by the lead PR agency for BIS shortly. Contact: Laura Bates 020 7010 0817 laura.bates@kindredagency.com
The campaign and exhibition will also celebrate the country’s manufacturing champions who will support the campaign and act as ‘myth dispelling’ champions for manufacturing and its successes in the UK. Government made a call in October 2011 for up to 30 senior industry captains to become campaign champions. The call has now closed. A first group of senior industry champions, including Joe Greenwell from Ford of Britain, has been appointed to take formal roles in the campaign and support it in the run up to the exhibition. Further appointees are currently being considered by Ministers with an announcement expected soon. In parallel, BIS are seeking to recruit the rising stars of manufacturing – ‘30 under 30s’ – to inspire young people with their own experiences and support the campaign. BIS are also still interested to receive case studies on employees with interesting or unusual jobs, apprentices or young people in manufacturing and CEOs or senior executives, that could be used during the campaign.
Please go to http://www.makeitingreatbritain.bis.gov.uk/ to register your interest.
Finally, before the end of the month a new interactive MIIGB campaign website and the MIIGB Challenge will be launched to invite entries to a nationwide competition that searches for innovative pre-market products or processes ‘made in GB’. Winning entries will be selected by a panel of industry experts and showcased as part of the Science Museum exhibition during the summer. The challenge call will appear athttp://makeitingreatbritain.bis.gov.uk/ .
2. Olympic Business Legacy Programme: £1bn expected business legacy – Global Business Summit on Advanced Engineering, Aerospace and Automotive, Friday 10 August 2012
In parallel, UKTI and No 10 lead on the recently launched ‘Olympic Business Legacy programme’, which is expected to deliver £1bn long term benefit from providing a series of global business engagement and networking opportunities. As part of a series of Global Business Summits UKTI is organising a business summit on Advanced Engineering, Aerospace and Automotive at Lancaster House in London on Friday 10 August, which SMMT is assisting UKTI and No 10 on.
The Advanced Engineering Business Summit at Lancaster House on 10 August will bring together around 90 global business leaders with British-based industry executives from advanced engineering, aerospace and automotive to showcase British engineering excellence and discuss and realise opportunities for greater investment and trade. Ministerial presence is a critical element of the business summit programme.
The Summit consists of a half-day morning conference followed by one-to-one business meetings in the afternoon, with associated opportunities for technology or vehicle display at Lancaster House. The morning programme consists of a opening plenary with a with a Ministerial keynote address and a facilitated panel discussions between major global companies such as JCB, Airbus, Nissan and Jaguar Land Rover about the strength of the UK as a trading partner and the investment location of choice. This is followed by a session on examples of industry and academia collaboration to develop technical solutions and excellence throughout the UK supply chains, right down to niche technology SMEs. It closes with a session that showcases practical examples of solutions around the application of materials in aerospace and low carbon technology solutions for automotive. The day will end with a networking reception in central London.
For UKTI press notice announcing the Business Summit programme, please click here ukti.gov.uk
Technology display opportunities – Lancaster House as host to the British Business Embassy also offers a number of opportunities to physically showcase innovative technologies relevant to the sector. UKTI is looking to the automotive sector to secure a range of leading edge innovative technologies or vehicles to impress the overseas guests. Plans and criteria for the technology display are not yet fixed by UKTI, but UKTI is keen to receive expressions of interest. Please contact Roisin McClory at UKTIroisin.mcclory@ukti.gsi.gov.uk if you have a technology or product that you would like to be considered.
Sponsorship – UKTI is also looking to secure sponsorship for the business summits, and a sponsorship pack is expected to be available on the UKTI website www.ukti.gov.uk in the very near future.
Key contacts in UKTI for the Summit are:
Donald McNeill (Lead): donald.mcneill@ukti.gsi.gov.uk
Roisin McClory (technology showcase): roisin.mcclory@ukti.gsi.gov.uk
