Following on from the speech by Rt Hon Philip Hammond MP, Chancellor of the Exchequer, at the Conservative Party Conference, Ian Wright CBE, Director General of the Food and Drink Federation, the voice of the UK's largest manufacturing sector - food and drink, has responded.
Wright said, 'The food and drink industry is committed to working with the Government to ensure Britain remains one of the best places in the world for a business to invest, to innovate and to grow.
'We share the Chancellor's belief that boosting productivity is key to unlocking future prosperity. Indeed, driving productivity as part of a renewed industrial strategy is vital to achieving this ambition and food and drink must be at its heart.'
He continued, 'Food and drink manufacturing provides quality jobs across the country and creates wealth for the whole nation. In recent years, food and drink manufacturing has been a productivity success story, far outstripping the wider economy, however there is massive untapped opportunity.
'A future industrial strategy must enable the UK to be an attractive platform for companies to create or launch innovative products and to adopt innovative manufacturing technologies.'
