In the short term, this will help build genuine trust by resetting and strengthening the relationship between retail and manufacturing, recognising interconnected pressures and exploring ways to shift entrenched ways of working. It means sharing innovation and implementation expertise to fuel greater adoption and highlight cutting-edge, meaningful careers. In the longer term, imagine the impact of more joint business planning between manufacturers and retailers with the view of growing together.
Imagine the solutions the industry would have at its fingertips if it gave better demand signals to technology companies, academics and with UK-based start ups addressing specific pain points felt by the industry. It’s about collaboration across the entire cycle, ensuring investment of time and energy is put in the right places. The UK can cement its place as an advanced manufacturing, high productivity country if the entire food system works together – manufacturers, retailers, suppliers, technology and government – to supercharge collective productivity and growth. The Advanced Propulsion Centre UK has been working with industry to rewrite the rules of engagement in automotive. One example of this is Project Trident which sought to decarbonise heavy-duty vehicles by increasing the efficiency of hydrogen fuel cells. It got off the ground at pace due to close collaboration between multinational technology leader Cummins, SMEs and academia, coupled with government investment. The work has achieved its aims to reduce CO 2 , as well as driven job creation in the UK supply chain and led to new ways of innovating for everyone involved. Cummins can now get energy efficient products to market faster, while one of the SMEs involved, Holtex, has since spun out a new business thanks to opportunities spotted during the collaboration.
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