“Overwhelming willingness” to bring production back to the UK.

In collaboration with UK Trade and Investment and the Automotive Investment Organisation, Business Birmingham will be hosting a Meet the Buyer event on Wednesday 5th November at the MG Conference Centre in Longbridge.

New research, commissioned by Business Birmingham, has shown that there is an overwhelming willingness among automotive companies to bring production back to the UK – which would boost the local economy and create jobs.

However, many automotive companies are failing to reshore production because of engagement issues within the domestic supply chain. Notably, the research found that there was an ‘information gap’ in the supply chain, whereby companies were often unaware of the options available within the domestic or regional supply chain, resulting in production being moved abroad unnecessarily.

Business Birmingham is working hard to address the issue by implementing a sector focused engagement programme for automotive supply chain companies in Greater Birmingham, which it aims to develop further with other LEPs that are willing to participate.

The event at Longbridge forms part of that effort, and is designed to bring together buyers and suppliers to demonstrate the advantages of sourcing production within the regional and domestic supply chain – rather than taking it abroad.

David Shepherd, Automotive Sector Relationship Manager at Business Birmingham, said: “There is a strong appetite among automotive companies to bring production back home to the UK. But to encourage them to do that we need to improve the level of engagement within the supply chain. Our goal, and the purpose of this event, is to foster better relationships between suppliers and buyers, and to create more awareness about the options available within the regional and domestic supply chain.”

The Meet the Buyer event will take place from 9:00-15:00 on the 5th November 2014 at the MG Conference Centre in Longbridge, and will involve timed networking sessions as well as the opportunity for more informal networking throughout the day.

The event is free to attend, and more information and details on how to register can be found at www.sectorregistration.co.uk/bbedm/edm-1.html