Turmoil for imports is an opportunity

BIRMINGHAM is a city of a thousand trades, many of which have been suffering hard times over the last few years due to severe overseas competition. However, in so far as the Far East is concerned, I see a window of opportunity developing.

For some time, Chinese ex works prices have been rising steadily and now the Iran-backed Houthi rebels, attacking cargo vessels in the Red Sea, are forcing ships to take the longer South Africa route to get cargoes to the UK and Europe. The cost of this has to be visited upon freight carried. So, for the first time in years, British manufacturers, and those in the Midlands in particular, have a better chance of persuading British customers to consider placing their orders with national producers as delivered prices for imported goods escalate.

One valuable selling point for UK manufacturers has always been flexibility. If a customer wishes to change the design of a product, this can rapidly be achieved with a local supplier, thus allowing a more up-to-date version to be placed before prospective customers. There can be a delay of over three months if manufacturing is being carried out in China.

Here in the Midlands, we have a wide range of skills to offer that can produce very high-quality product. Where manufacturers sometimes fail is due to a lack of marketing skills when it comes to dealing with large customers who appear to wish to avoid dealing with small companies because they feel it is costly in terms of quality control.

This is where specialised marketing is required, for the smaller operation has, as a generalisation, much lower overheads which can be reflected in ex works prices. The clever bit is to persuade the customer to have confidence in the supplier to service all requirements speedily and efficiently.

This window of opportunity might not last too long if some sort of peace settlement is negotiated over Gaza. The Houthi rebels state that their action is in support of Palestinians, so it behoves British manufacturers and producers to move swiftly, although I have a nasty feeling that Iran may well encourage continued disruption to shipping.

Opportunity knocks!