Two in five British companies now manufacturing in China are discussing coming back to Europe, according to a survey of more than 1,100 business managers in UK headquartered companies.
The survey by Versapak found that 46 per cent had looked at manufacturing in China. Of those, 67 per cent would consider returning manufacturing to the UK if market forces were right – and 38 per cent of them were in discussions to do that.
More than half cited difficult communication as a problem with manufacturing in the Far East, while rising prices (48 per cent) and long lead times (40 per cent) were also seen as stumbling blocks.
Only 33 per cent claimed to be happy with their current setup.
Leon Edwards, group managing director of Versapak, said: “It seems that the winds of change are now blowing more favourably towards UK shores and that the thought process towards UK based manufacturing could be shifting.
“From a personal point of view, I’ve had many discussions with business prospects about the challenges of Chinese production, the majority of which are evidenced in the results of our study.”
