Interesting (if slightly depressing) article by Ha-Joon Chang in today’s Guardian about the need to reinvigorate British manufacturing:
“The weakness of manufacturing is at the heart of the UK’s economic problems. Reversing three and a half decades of neglect will not be easy but, unless the country provides its industrial sector with more capital, stronger public support for R&D and better-trained workers, it will not be able to build the balanced and sustainable economy that it so desperately needs.”
Good to see the need for better-trained workers is mentioned. This often seems to be a major growth constraint for the small companies I visit. They just can’t find the staff they need.
Yes, it is Heston Blumenthal in the picture, making a macaroon from a bar of silver.