On 9 July, leaders from industry, government, academia, and the wider manufacturing innovation ecosystem met at Aston University to help shape the delivery of the UK’s 10-year industrial strategy.

The event, titled “Manufacturing: Delivering the UK industrial strategy”, formed part of the UK Manufacturing Forum (UKMF) - a collaborative initiative led by the Institute for Manufacturing and the High Value Manufacturing Catapult. 

Participants gathered to build consensus on how different parts of the manufacturing landscape can work together to advance the UK government’s long-term industrial agenda. Representatives from the Department for Business and Trade outlined current policy direction, while senior voices from industry and academia explored opportunities for collaboration.

A packed morning agenda included presentations from the Department for Business and Trade on the modern industrial strategy, a keynote speech from Brian Holliday, Managing Director for Siemens Digital Industries, and panel sessions chaired by Sarah Sharples, Chief Scientific Adviser for the Department for Transport, and Sarah Black-Smith, General Manager for Motion Control at Siemens.

Delivering the keynote speech, Brian Holliday said: "The future of UK manufacturing matters more than ever and it is clear we need a vision. It is exciting that the industrial strategy is a 10-year strategy, which means the opportunity for ongoing dialogue as part of the advanced manufacturing sector plan. We need to adopt technology at pace and digitalisation is the catalyst for that."

The afternoon session included a series of workshops of key topics:

• Skills for industrial transformation
• UK competitiveness – the role of technology
• Regulation
• Scale-up and retaining value in the UK
• Infrastructure and place

Established in 2018, the UKMF convenes academic experts, industrial leaders, and policymakers to track emerging trends, shape national priorities, and identify opportunities for strategic alignment across the manufacturing ecosystem.