Specialist Manufacturing Sector: Regional Economies

Harpreet Uppal Excerpts

Wednesday 19th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Harpreet Uppal (Huddersfield) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mrs Harris. I thank my hon. Friend and constituency neighbour the Member for Calder Valley (Josh Fenton-Glynn) for securing the debate. We have some Yorkshire people here today.

Our manufacturing towns and communities have long been the engine rooms of this country. They built our economy, drove innovation and gave generations of working-class families good, secure jobs and pride in their local identity. From textiles and engineering to precision manufacturing, these industries shaped the story of our country.

In my constituency of Huddersfield, that story runs deep. The town’s industrial heritage is woven into its very fabric—literally, as Huddersfield’s rich textile history dates back to the early 1700s. Since establishing a worldwide reputation for the manufacturing of fine woollen and worsted cloth, the words “Made in Huddersfield” have been a highly revered global brand. Merchants travelled from across the world to buy Huddersfield cloth, and generations of local workers powered an industry known for exceptional craftsmanship, precision and skill. I have seen at first hand the skill and dedication needed to work in these industries, as my dad worked as a weaver for over 30 years at a local textile firm, C & J Antich & Sons. It makes the cloth for the best fashion houses in the world, as well as putting together materials for Formula 1 cars, which is very exciting.

The truth is that manufacturing matters to Huddersfield, and it matters that we make things in our country. Since becoming the MP for Huddersfield, I have had the opportunity to meet and visit many incredible family-owned and locally born manufacturers working in Huddersfield. That includes W. T. Johnson & Sons, a fourth-generation family-run textile finishing firm that has operated in Huddersfield since 1910; David Brown, a defence manufacturer providing highly complex equipment to the defence industry; the Textile Centre of Excellence, which provides training and research; Thomas Broadbent & Sons, which has run its company in Huddersfield since 1864; Olympus Technologies, which has been designing robotic solutions since the 1980s; Camira Yarns, a woollen spun yarn specialist that was founded in Huddersfield in the 1860s; and Reliance Precision, which has been around for 60 years and does some highly technical stuff that I do not fully understand, but it is very exciting. I also recently attended a roundtable hosted by the Calderdale and Kirklees Manufacturing Alliance.

On those visits, manufacturers and industry leaders often told me the same story. They want to grow, innovate and recruit locally, but there is an issue with finding a younger workforce, so continued investment in vocational training and partnerships between industry and education is really important. Energy costs continue to be a concern, and they want to make sure manufacturing —not just advanced manufacturing—is a strategic priority for this Government. We must invest in the businesses that make things here in Britain.

The ongoing impact of Brexit on trade and the supply chain is a concern for some businesses. SMEs particularly need support with cyber-security. Could the Minister explain what support is available to them? There was also some positive feedback on the export growth programme, which provides tailored advice to industry, and businesses asked what we can do to make sure that model goes further.

These businesses are not nostalgic for the past; they are building for the future. The challenge and the opportunity is to make sure that the benefits of that innovation reach the people and places who need them most. Skills and workforce development will be particularly important for that. Without long-term funding for skills, the system will continue to fall short of what both learners and employers need. If we invest in people, prioritise skills and provide stability for the specialist industries that underpin our economy, we can restore pride and prosperity to the regions that built this country. That means creating secure, high-quality jobs. It means keeping our young people in the towns where we grew up, and it means ensuring that the next generation can take pride in the industries that define their communities.