This unprecedented period in all our lives has highlighted the importance of UK manufacturing to not only the economic prosperity of our country but also the societal significance of the sector. The Prime Minister’s recent call on the UK’s manufacturers to help step up production of vital medical equipment, such as ventilators illustrates this. Responding to coronavirus and reducing the spread of the peak requires a national effort, and UK manufacturers are rising to the task in ways that were never thought feasible.

The Royal Academy of Engineering has highlighted that one key aspect of addressing the damaging shortage of engineering skills in the UK economy is reducing both gender and race inequality. Despite some movement in this area the Academy says that there remains much to be done to achieve gender equality in engineering careers.

When watching films or TV shows of a certain vintage, one can’t help noticing how ubiquitous the street phone booth was for everyday ‘real-time’ communication. And there seemed to be an awful lot of paper on desks in episodes of The Bill, accompanied by the incessant clatter of manual typewriters. Needless to say, things have moved on in leaps and bounds from a technological perspective in today’s business and social world (maybe except for the reams of paper that still seem to be on quite a few office desks).