Industrial Strategy Workshop

26th March 2026 • 9:00am–12:00pm
West Yorkshire Manufacturing Services

Shaping an SME-Led Industrial Strategy — From the Factory Floor Up

Following our recent Industrial Strategy Workshop in Birmingham, this Yorkshire session forms the next stage of a coordinated, national SME policy initiative.

The Birmingham workshop explored themes including skills reform, sovereignty and supply chain resilience. While there will naturally be some crossover, this session will go further — addressing additional priorities emerging from our national SME Manufacturing Policy Survey and deepening the conversation through a Northern lens.

This is not a presentation. It is a structured working session designed to capture the operational realities, frustrations and practical recommendations of SME manufacturers — and turn them into clear policy proposals that will be formally presented to decision-makers in 2026.

SMEs currently have little direct representation in national industrial policymaking. This workshop is about ensuring that changes.

What to Expect on the Day

This is a facilitated, roundtable-based workshop designed for meaningful contribution.

You will be seated with fellow manufacturing leaders in groups of 6–10. Across a series of timed discussion rounds, each table will:

• Review emerging insights from our nationwide SME survey

• Debate a focused policy question

• Capture ideas and recommendations in a structured format

• Prioritise the most impactful proposals

• Nominate a chair to present back to the room

Each round builds towards a consolidated set of recommendations drawn directly from SME experience.

Chair summaries will be recorded and incorporated — alongside survey data and workshop photography — into the final Industrial Strategy report.

Agenda

9:00am – Arrival, breakfast & networking
9:45am – Welcome & national context
10:00am – Facilitated policy workshop (multiple structured rounds)
11:45am – Summary reflections
12:00pm – Close

Why Your Input Matters

The outcomes from this session will:

• Feed into a pilot SME-led Industrial Strategy report

• Be presented across political parties

• Combine statistical survey data with real-world manufacturing insight

• Represent the voice of privately owned UK manufacturers

This is one of the most coordinated SME policy engagement exercises undertaken by Made in Group to date. 

If the foundation of UK industry is SME manufacturing, then the foundation of any credible Industrial Strategy must start here.