Manufacturing an escape route

Khalid Saifullah hopes lessons will have been learned as the UK slowly picks its path out of the coronavirus crisis that is wreaking so much havoc on the economy. If not, the journey could be even longer and more painful.

Recognising the importance of manufacturing is high on that list of lessons. So too is investing in innovation. Nearer to home it is about Lancashire’s business leaders coming together to lead the recovery from the front.

The managing director of Blackburn-based Star Tissue, number 11 in this year’s Lancashire Business View Hot 100 list of the county’s most profitable SMEs, declares: “Government needs to invest more in manufacturing. Now is a prime opportunity. It needs to put in resources and start getting the UK making stuff again.”

Khalid, who is a director of the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership, alongside his role in his family-owned hygiene paper product manufacturer, says the Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for much stronger local supply chains.