With over 20 years experience of running and growing business in companies such as Tetra Pak, The Onyx Group and the NHS, Maitland brings fresh new leadership to Microdat. His main roles will be to improve processes, identify new markets and grow market share.

Microdat founder Stephen Midgley said Maitland’s knowledge and experience will prove invaluable in the next phase of growth for the company: “We are delighted to have Maitland join our team. He brings a vibrant approach and a wealth of new ideas to the company.

“His appointment means I am free from the day to day running of the business and can concentrate on designing and developing the next generation of brewery process and packaging products.”

Manufacturing is shaking off its negative image and re-taking its rightful place at the very heart of business. But are manufacturers finding skilled workers to compete in a global marketplace? Can they secure adequate funding to grow?

This quick survey seeks to help understand the business environment better, gauge manufacturers’ thoughts on growth in 2013 and where the main opportunities lie.

It will also look at the appetite for company expansion and the key international markets businesses are targeting. The online survey takes no more than a couple of minutes to complete, can be filled in by clicking here.

Textile firm Hainsworth was among businesses to meet Zhou Xiaoming, Pan Jiansheng, and Jiang Tao from the Chinese Embassy.

Hainsworth, famous for supplying the scarlet cloth used in soldiers’ ceremonial uniforms, already exports its cloth for use on snooker tables and in pianos in China but is now looking for opportunities for its recently launched consumer brand Scarlet & Argent.

Group sales director Diane Simpson said: “We think that the Chinese market is ready for our consumer brand.

“It has our links to British heritage behind it while the firm is also a seventh generation family-owned business and we think the Chinese will appreciate that history.”

The delegation also visited Spooner, in Ilkey and Shipley-based Radio Design during the visit organised by the China-Britain Business Council and Marketing Leeds as part of the Leeds Gold Business Programme, an initiative to support the business community and encourage international trade in countries such as China.

China-Britain Business Council director Giles Blackburne said: “This part of efforts to engage the Chinese Embassy more with the UK regions and this visit has been about understanding better the capabilities of the companies based here.

“We have been working with them to visit companies to learn about the challenges they face entering the Chinese market and also to be a sounding board on what prospects there are.

“The companies they have visited demonstrate the diversity and excellence of the region.”

New trade figures showed the defict in goods and services fell to £2.7bn in May compared to £4.1bn in April

David Kern, chief economist at the British Chambers of Commerce, said: “While most expected the latest manufacturing output figures to record stagnation or a decline, they show resilience from manufacturers despite a difficult economic climate and a crisis in the eurozone.

“Taken together with the latest trade statistics, they show that pessimism about the UK’s economic prospects is unwarranted.

“Longer-term trends in manufacturing are still disappointing, and the global economy shows signs of slowing.

“Manufacturers are adjusting to a new reality with weaker growth prospects while the government continues with measures to reduce the deficit.

“But British businesses have considerable potential to make progress, even in tough circumstances. It is down to the government to help them realise this.”

Gripple currently manufacture on five continents, with the main driver being proximity to market rather than offshoring production to reduce costs.

Edmonds was the main speaker at the Manufactuirng Lunch hosted by Grant Thornton in Leeds. He described how innovation has been placed at the core of the business, with firm targets for turnover generated from new products and KPIs for product development staff to spend time in the field with customers.

Key message is that innovation isn’t just about product, it’s about the full service offer, but it’s also about getting as close as possible to your customer and understanding the challenges they face.

And the key thing that government can do to support manufacturing? Introduce capital allowances to encourage investment: “Manufacturers are ready and willing to invest. We need government to oil the wheels.”

The event was sponsored by Grant Thornton, Clarion and Barclays Corporate.

As a result, they are showing resilience in the face of the double dip recession, with many radically restructuring their businesses to maintain profitability.

Yorkshire Business Insider reports that the latest government figures show there were 102 manufacturing businesses entering administration nationally in the first quarter of 2012, 17 fewer than the year before.

According to Simon Manning, manufacturing partner at Deloitte in Yorkshire: “The latest manufacturing administration figures show the steps taken by sector have made it better placed to survive a downturn in the economy and although conditions are unlikely to improve in the near future these streamlined firms will be well placed to take advantage of the upturn when demand returns.”  Read full story>>>

Meanwhile, TheBusinessDesk.com reports that fewer than a third of manufacturers across Yorkshire and the Humber think the government is adopting the right strategies to support and develop the sector.

Almost all (94%) of manufacturers value the Government’s message that manufacturing is essential to the UK economy, but the research indicates they do not see policy pledges translating to concrete change.

The findings are drawn from BDO’s Manufacturing the Future report, which also concluded that the creation of an ‘industrial bank’ and a new focus on manufacturing skills would be welcomed.  Read full story>>>

“The Leeds City Region is one of the most important centres for financial and legal services but it also has one of the biggest manufacturing clusters outside London and manufacturing has a key role to play in rebalancing the economy,” says Insider deputy editor Ben Pindar. “But confidence is shakey, access to finance is tough, while international trade levels and skills remain major issues.”

Jason Whitworth of BDO, which sponsored the event and also publishes the Manufacturing Outlook report in association with EEF, said there were positive signs for the sector, with 11 per cent of manufacturers reporting an increase in output over the last three months.

“The key thing that didn’t come out of the budget was any movement on capital allowances, which are key to getting businesses – and in particular manufacturers – investing.”

“Exporting is still a huge opportunity,” he added, pointing out that while Yorkshire businesses are good at exporting to Europe and Ireland, there is still lots of room for growth in worldwide markets.”

Panelists at the breakfast event agreed that the sector still suffers from serious problems when it comes to public perception.

Optare chief executive Jim Sumner argued that addressing the image question is key to getting the next generation into manufacturing and addressing the industry’s ageing workforce profile. “The investment that other countries are making in education, particularly in engineering, is far in advance of what we are doing in the UK.”

Andy Tuscher, regional director for the EEF, added: “It’s very worrying that large manufacturers are struggling to recruit the right calibre of people. We train people in engineering in the UK but they often don’t stay in manufacturing.”

The problem is certainly about image, but it is also about education, he argued, quoting the example of a large manufacturer based in the North East that struggled to recruit 25 apprentices from a pool of 2,000 applicants. “It’s far too easy to see training and development as a cost rather than an investment,” he said.

It’s a common problem for manufacturers across the UK, observed Gary Jones, chairman of Group Heights and a board member of the Leeds city region LEP: “All the skilled guys are going to be retiring in the next ten years. When it comes to large development projects that require prototyping, R&D or project management expertise, we’re having to pull people in from China and the US.”

Public sector procurement is a key area in which many feel government at all levels can help to support UK manufacturing. For Andy Tuscher, putting pressure on government to use UK suppliers for large scale projects such as high speed rail, is essential to protect supply chains and generate employment.

But he recognised that UK manufacturers also need to up their game and, where necessary work collaboratively, to upskill and upscale to compete for business and win contracts.

Jim Sumner pointed to the US and other countries, which apply a domestic content rule to public procurement, forcing overseas suppliers to set up operations and create employment there. He warned that procurement policy which goes for short term benefits rather than looking at long term implications, results in the ‘hollowing out’ of supply chains and skills.

“You cannot leave manufacturing strategy and industrial policy to the free market because nobody else does,” he said, adding that local supply chains can actually be a key source of competitive advantage, allowing manufacturers to respond quickly to changes in the economic environment.

But he counselled that manufacturers need to be alive to the opportunities presented by overseas markets: “Export remains key. British goods are prised in other parts of the world and we have a great deal to offer, although we probably don’t do a great job of leveraging this.”

“There are phenomenal opportunities in place such as India and other EU countries are exporting far more than we are, without the legacy and linkages we have with that country.”

The former Minister of Trade and Industry was speaking at an event in Wakefield, organised by UKTI and  looking at export growth opportunities for companies in the advanced engineering sector.

Manufacturing accounts for 40 per cent of the region’s exports, he told the audience, but he fully supports the drive from government to increase the number of exporters from one in five to one in four businesses.

But he said it was vital to focus on earning rather than spending; “Wealth creators are the most important people – without them there would be no tax and no spending,” he said, arguing that business and wealth creation has to be put above party politics.

Pulling no punches, he took his audience on a whirlwind tour of the developing economies and highlighted the remorseless appetite and aspiration to improve living standards for future generations. “In Shanghai – that’s in Communist China, let me remind you – there is a greater proportion of the economy in the private sector that in any of our major cities.”

As China develops, it will shift manufacturing activity away from the developed cities on its eastern seafront and fill the vacuum this creates with what’s currently being done in the UK, Germany and France.

India and Brasil are no different he argued, recounting the story of taking a ride in a taxi driven by a guy from Chennai. The driver told how he send his wages home to pay for his son’s education. “And what’s he going to do?” asked Lord Digby Jones. “He’s going to sit where you’re sitting when he grow up, not where I’m sitting,” the taxi driver replied.

The challenge is to make the threat presented by developing countries into an opportunity. Brasil, he pointed out, is growing at 7-8 per cent per annum, has a massive internal population to drive demand and an infrastructure investment programme to match it.

Others have already spotted the opportunity: “In Sao Paulo,” he said, “there are more individual German businesses than in any individual city in Germany.”

Unless things change, he warned that Europe is set for staggered, measured decline. “We need to bring everyone up to the highest common denominator, rather than dumming everyone down to the lowest common denominator.”

The UK has the most flexible labour market in Europe and, he argues that Europe needs to combine this with the best of what they do in France – “investing in skills” – and the best of what they do in Germany – “investing in infrastructure” – if it is to stand any chance of competing.

Speaking on the day of the Budget, he said that government of whatever political persuasion has to stop acting as if business is the enemy and begin formulating policy that helps business create wealth and create employment.

Putting forward a three point plan, he called for an urgent review of government procurement policy, which needs to focus on best value rather than price, an end to employer’s national insurance which he described as a “tax on jobs” and for the scrapping of income tax on the national minimum wage to boost both aspiration and demand.

The bagel and coffee shop chain is also set to rebrand its existing outlets as its new management team starts to put its plans into action.

Bagel Nash was bought from itsfounders Uri and Karen Mizrahi last year by Andy Micklethwaite and Sara Hildreth in a deal backed by YFM Equity Partners.

The company has revealed its plans for the future as it celebrates the 25th anniversary of the first shop in Moortown, Leeds.

Ms Hildreth, now retail operations director at Bagel Nash, said:”Our bakers have proudly been baking what we think are the best bagels in the world for a quarter of a century. 2012 is a big year for the business as we re-launch our brand and roll-out our expansion plans across the North of England.

Bagel Nash already operates 11 stores in Leeds, Huddersfield, York and Manchester and wants to grow that to 50 in the next five years, focusing largely on the North of England.

The company also has plans to develop its wholesale bakery business that produces 40,000 bagels a day and exports 4m every year.

It currently employs 110 people and hopes that will treble.

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