LEADING South Wales manufacturing business boss Peter Lewis has questioned Bank of England Governor Mark Carney’s ‘green shoots of recovery’ claim.

Peter, managing director of multi-award winning industrial systems integrator Industrial Automation Control Ltd, is sceptical of the widely publicised ‘green shoots’ views rapidly gaining momentum in UK Government circles.

Peter spoke to Business Argus on the eve of his latest a business development trip which will take him across the globe first to the Middle East and then China to open new markets for IAC.

Peter has his manufacturing base at Delta House, Queensway Meadows, Newport. IAC also operates out of a at a prime city centre location at Mill Street. Its high value, precision engineered automation equipment is exported from the locations to key world markets. The business also has a centre in Cross Hands, West Wales and in South Africa.

IAC Ltd employs a total of 106 people across its business and has an annual turnover of some £12m.

Peter said: “At IAC we have not seen a recovery of any consequence. On the contrary, we have seen order intake slow down and competition become stiffer.

He said: “Our competitors are undercutting us on price to take work at little or no margin. An increase in house prices and retail trade increases do not affect the manufacturing business, particularly the heavy industrial sector that we operate in.

“We have to work even harder to win business and to this end we have to look overseas for the investment. The UK manufacturing sector was decimated in Thatcher’s 80s and we have been slow to recover from it.

“The metals industry in particular is tiny compared to then. We do not have British Steel, Alcan, GKN and the like in our area. Most of what was Llanwern steelworks is now a new housing estate and soon to be developed business park.”

Peter recruits two electrical engineering apprentices each year with eight currently employed at IAC. A pair of IAC apprentices, one from Newport and the other Blackwood were competing at SkillsUK in Birmingham last week (see page 6).

Peter said: “South Wales has an enormous amount to offer the country by way of skills and enthusiasm, but this has traditionally been based on heavy industry, not call centres and banks.

“The top employers in Newport are all service industry – Patent Office, Lloyds Bank, NSO and the like. Newport is not considered by the Welsh Assembly to be an area in need of funding.

“There is less support available in Newport than five miles away in Cwmbran. But we shouldn’t have to rely on Government; we should be building industry and getting back to making things we can sell around the world. Unfortunately, a business like IAC needs to feed off the investment in automation within the manufacturing sector, and if the big companies are not investing, then we have no market to sell to.

“All of this has prompted us to go overseas to seek out new customers. We have developed a business in South Africa, IAC South Africa and our main efforts now are in China and the Middle East where investment is still being made. I will be travelling to those parts of the world in the next few days.

“Export now provides over half of our income and has done for many years. Making it easier to buy a new home in the UK is not a long term strategy and will do nothing for the economy other than drive up house prices and make it even harder for my kids to afford to buy their own homes in the future.”