IT’S NOT OFTEN that I’m interested in documentaries about cushion making, but I made an exception for the recent BBC2 programme The Town Taking on China, which ended up having some interesting implications for the UK technology industry.
The premise of the series was an experiment carried out by cushion manufacturer Tony to see if his UK factory based in Kirkby could outperform its Chinese counterpart, with the objective of bringing more jobs back to the deprived Merseyside region.
I felt sure China would prevail in the experiment as hands down winner. After all, it’s been decades since the UK had a thriving manufacturing industry, as high wage and tax costs pushed businesses away from the UK and into cheaper developing regions of Asia, mainly India and China. These areas are well-known for their access to cheap, skilled labour and low overheads and so are the labour destination of choice for call centres and manufacturing.
However, I was surprised to find my assumptions were wrong and that the tide is turning. There were two main reasons for this shift. Firstly, and on a smaller scale, was the push for quality from certain buyers.
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via Raspberry Pi and Kirby cushion factory could be answer to UK tech sector boost – The Inquirer.
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