Sir, As the global production playing field is levelled by automated manufacturing systems we may indeed increase our manufacturing base if we invest in the right machinery (letters, Jan 13 and 14 ). However, it is not where you make but what you make.
We now have easy access to the largest global market in history. The better product, invented/designed in the UK, can create wealth for our country wherever it is made and while we may lack a strong manufacturing base we have a tradition of new product creation. Sir James Dyson among others has proven that the right product at the right time can steal market share from established category leaders and dominate a vast market in a few years.
Apple in the US has succeeded in a similar manner bydesigning a better product with, incidentally, Jonathan Ive, a British designer heading its team.
Iain Sinclair
Hildersham, Cambs