“Being appointed president is an honour and I look forward to making a difference in the industry where I have enjoyed such a rewarding career,” said Burton at the AGM. “Issues such as Brexit and industrial digitalisation will have a major effect on our industry and I want to make sure that our voice is heard.”
After the AGM, members heard from two leading academics in their fields. Professor Sam Turner, CTO of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, talked about the ‘Made Smarter’ programme, which is aiming to raise awareness of industrial digitalisation in the northwest of England. Professor Anand Menon, director of the ‘Centre for the UK in a Changing Europe’ at Kings College London, then shared his thoughts on the latest Brexit developments.
This was timely because later in the afternoon members visited Parliament to meet MPs while the Brexit debate got underway in the House of Commons. Speaking at the meeting, Burton made it clear that manufacturing industry regards a ‘no deal’ outcome to Brexit as damaging, and that Government should do everything possible to avoid it.
