As a plastic moulding company operating in an ever increasingly competitive marketplace, with rising energy costs and overheads, Plastic Parts Direct says it is constantly looking for ways to reduce costs and stay competitive. The company recently hosted Sean Woodcock MP at its manufacturing premises in Banbury.
Sean is the local Labour MP for the Banbury area and, following some correspondence regarding how the government intended to spend the extra £25 million a day in revenue generated by rising fuel costs, he offered to visit the company to discuss the issues in person.
Plastic Parts Direct said this was admirable in itself, as it was obvious the company had some difficult questions to raise and that it would have been easy to avoid the discussion.
According to Plastic Parts Direct:
"Basically the extra revenue is just that, extra revenue, with no plans to actually support companies by reducing duty and tax to keep the already high energy costs under control."
However, that wasn't the only question the company had. It also raised the subject of how increasingly difficult running an SME has become due to Labour's policies on higher National Insurance contributions and the National Minimum Wage, as well as the introduction of upcoming employment law changes.
Plastic Parts Direct said its impression from the meeting was that Whitehall has little understanding of what actually happens in the real world outside London.
"They seem to view all companies the same as large multinationals, 'swimming in money, they can take'."
As a significant part of the company's business is manufacturing and selling plastic accessories into the fenestration and building industries, it also questioned the failure to meet Labour's target of 300,000 new homes per year, with current delivery standing at around 195,000.
According to the company, the response was:
"Planning rules have changed - which will sort this out."
The company said there were several other issues discussed, including the government's policy of offshoring emissions in pursuit of Net Zero. It argued that emissions still occur, but in other parts of the world, often in countries relying on fossil fuels, while UK manufacturing is priced out of the market.
Plastic Parts Direct also said it was told the emphasis has now shifted to "Energy Security", which it believes avoids addressing what it describes as the shortcomings of the Net Zero approach.
The company added:
"No substantive support for manufacturing in the face of strong import competition. However, companies can always borrow more with the Government Growth Scheme"... great, just more debt!
The government says it wants to spend its increased defence budget with UK companies. Plastic Parts Direct asked how new suppliers would be able to access these opportunities, saying there is currently a "brick wall" for businesses trying to do so. According to the company, there was no immediate answer, although Sean Woodcock said he would follow the matter up.
Reflecting on the visit, Plastic Parts Direct said it would encourage other SMEs to invite their MPs to visit so they can better understand the challenges businesses face.
The company said that, by listening to the small businesses that form the backbone of the UK economy, government could play an instrumental role in helping the country return to stronger economic growth.
"I hate being optimistic!" 😁
