Manufacturing

Jessica Lee Excerpts

Thursday 24th November 2011 Commons Chamber

[Jessica Lee (Erewash) (Con)]

I am delighted to participate in this extremely important debate and thank the hon. Members and colleagues who secured it. I also thank my hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Guy Opperman) for his fine opening speech.

The constituency of Erewash, which I have the honour of representing, is in the heart of the east midlands manufacturing base. The east midlands has the highest employment level in manufacturing in the United Kingdom. We have been manufacturing products in Erewash for over 300 years. It is the base for one in five of the 2,400 firms in my constituency. To put it another way, 30% of the jobs in Erewash rely on the manufacturing sector.

The range of products is also diverse, and it has developed as the technology has changed over the years. We have made everything in Erewash, from pencils to lace and drainage covers to railway carriages—the list goes on. Indeed, the town’s contribution to manufacturing has continued in peacetime and wartime. At the Stanton Gate works, 873,500 bomb casings were produced during world war two, and my late grandfather, who grew up and worked in nearby Nottingham, was an engineer on the local railways all his life and one of the many engineers asked to help in factories throughout the war, producing, making and helping us to win world war two.

One industry with a proud legacy in Erewash, especially in the town of Long Eaton, is furniture making. In recent years, there has been a resurgence in the trend for Union Jack-themed home accessories and furniture, and I confess that in the Lee household the occasional Union Jack cushion has appeared from time to time, but to me it is a great symbol, because it shows that we support British products and furniture makers, such as Meadowmead in Long Eaton. I am an active member of the all-party group on the furniture industry, and I will continue to do all I can to support the industry.

High-tech engineering and educational suppliers are also successful. We have companies such as TecQuipment, which provides sophisticated engineering training products that are then exported to universities around the globe. We also have Atlas Composites, whose carbon composites are used by top companies, also around the globe.

Being located between Derby and Nottingham, Erewash is a significant supplier to larger companies such as Rolls-Royce and Bombardier, and I note the comments of my hon. Friend the Member for Pendle (Andrew Stephenson) and am delighted to hear about the recently formed all-party group on aerospace. If an application form is sent to me, I shall happily join that group, as it is important.

Through the Industry and Parliament Trust, several MPs recently visited Rolls-Royce. It is an extraordinary site, and I encourage all Members to go. The hon. Member for Hartlepool (Mr Wright), who is seated on the Opposition Front Bench, also attended, and that day everybody was completely mesmerised and impressed by the company’s workmanship, expertise and groundbreaking work.

Indeed, Rolls-Royce is responsible for 2% of the nation’s GDP, and through its encouragement of apprenticeships and its employment, in particular, of skilled graduates from around the globe it has created a fantastic working environment. For the overwhelming majority of employees, once they start working for Rolls-Royce they simply do not want to work anywhere else, a fact that is reflected in the small number of people who ever leave.

The lace industry has also been important in Erewash, and I have spoken about it several times in the House, but I cannot let this opportunity go by without mentioning again Cluny Lace in Ilkeston, the last traditional lace manufacturer in the country. That company made part of the lace on the Duchess of Cambridge’s wedding dress, and we were honoured and delighted to participate in that great day.

I agree with the hon. Member for Derby North (Chris Williamson) that a debate about this topic could not really pass without local MPs mentioning Bombardier. Supply-chain firms in Erewash will be particularly affected by the decision, but we are all agreed in the House, and I am pleased that the Government take the view, that we must review the procurement rules that the previous Government put in place and ensure that we make the best for this country of the procurement process.

I think that I am the first woman MP to participate substantially in the debate, so I should not let this opportunity pass without mentioning women and encouraging them to go into manufacturing and engineering. I have been working with a school in Erewash, and we are looking to set up a scheme. We are going to have an open day, involving as many schools as possible, to show young women and girls currently at school why careers in manufacturing and engineering can be exciting for them—and the wealth of opportunities and interesting careers that they might not have considered.

I was delighted by the Government’s recent announcement of 5,000 new mentors to encourage women entrepreneurs. The scheme should include manufacturing as well, and I look forward to seeing how it develops.

In conclusion, I particularly welcome one other Government proposal: the “Make it in Great Britain” exhibition, which will take place at the Science Museum next year. We need to do all that we can to showcase what we make in Britain and see what we do best. I will be doing all that I can to take schoolchildren from my constituency to visit that exhibition.

We are united in the House about improving manufacturing. The Government have made a good start, but there is much to do. We must celebrate what we do best, talk up the whole of manufacturing in this country and build on those successes to create strong foundations for the future.