MHA report shows the most pressing issue in manufacturing for the North West is data
Andrew Matthews · Posted on: July 8th 2025 · read
The North West of England remains one of the UK’s most significant manufacturing hubs in 2025, contributing substantially to national output.
The region has shown resilience amid global economic pressures, although challenges persist. The region excels in advanced manufacturing, aerospace, automotive, and pharmaceuticals, with continued investment in digitalisation and green technologies.
The region faces a skills shortage, particularly in engineering and digital roles, prompting collaboration between industry and educational institutions to upskill the workforce. Our North West responses reflected what I am seeing in my clients, with recruitment, particularly of apprentices, being high on the agenda.
Manufacturers are grappling with increased energy prices, raw material costs, and employment taxes, which are expected to impact profit margins significantly into 2025 and beyond. Indeed, all these aspects featured heavily in responses from our respondents; grading skills shortages and energy costs as two of the top challenges facing their businesses.
Interestingly, the North West manufacturing responses considered technical evolution to be the number one challenge to business; considerably higher than the rest of the UK.
Our specialist insight
"Furthermore, nearly 51% of North West responses considered investment in strengthened IT systems as the critical step to address their challenges; being almost 10% higher than the average response nationally. This begs the question as to whether the North West, whilst steeped in manufacturing heritage, has been slow to develop local complimentary businesses in manufacturing tech and IT?"
