Strategy recommendations

For the strategy to succeed, it is vital that every business maximises the opportunities of the repositioning of UK Advanced Engineering in international markets, and is fully committed to the process.

Three broad programmes are recommended:

Activities to promote the messages.
Additional support for SMEs, to improve information flow and develop marketing capability.
Internal marketing of the strategy to UK businesses, to build confidence in, and commitment to, the messages.

These could include:

Promoting the messages

Comprehensive, continually updated marketing materials to communicate key messages, used by everyone from individual companies to Government bodies.
Activities by UK Trade & Investment and the Advanced Engineering Sector Advisory Board (AdESAB), working with the English Regional Development Agencies and Devolved Administrations, to show their commitment to the messages and ensure a UK-wide approach.
Major annual showcase events for UK Advanced Engineering held in the UK and key overseas markets.
A relationship-building programme that involves meeting overseas contacts to spread new messages about UK Advanced Engineering.

Additional support for SMEs

A simplified, co-ordinated way of informing companies about key medium-term opportunities in international markets and how best to exploit them.
A marketing toolkit website for UK Advanced Engineering. A key function of this will be a template helping SMEs create a strategy for a specific market using information available on the site.
Initiatives to encourage groups of Advanced Engineering businesses to work together in their international marketing efforts.

Internal marketing of the strategy

An annual conference to highlight the sector's main successes and show the changing opportunities for UK Advanced Engineering.
The promotion of key messages by UK Trade & Investment, Trade Associations and major Advanced Engineering businesses via existing communications channels.

Managing delivery

Implementation of the strategy will be overseen by the existing structure of the Advanced Engineering Sector Advisory Board (AdESAB), with business led sub-groups involving other stakeholders.