On the odd occasion I travel through the Black Country,I’m always amazed at how many metal bashers are remaining,plus the amount of steel stockholders. Plus we do still talk our country down and as we’re technically an advanced nation,we don’t need to employ many for a given output.
- Thread starter Beeezer
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Jelly_Sheffield
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.
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This is a very salient point.
Sheffield today exports a roughly equivalent value of manufactured goods as it did at the height of the steelmaking and tools trade, but engineering now only employs a tiny fraction of the people it did, and it's all "High Value" work.
Britain hovers between being the 4th and 5th largest exporter in the world.
Whilst hugely declined from the peak of ICI and the like, our chemical industry still accounts for ⅓ of all good exports (about £120 billion, between oil, chemicals, petrochemicals and pharmaceuticals).
We also export about the same amount of manufactured goods (Between Cars, Machinery, Scientific Instruments, Aerospace Components, and Special Metals).
Our view of the economy is distorted by the fact that about 70% of GDP originates from nowhere in particular, as part of the financial services sector in the city of London.
But in terms of what's putting money into the regions outside London, it's still heavily biased to manufacturing activities.
JMS1972
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I'm not exactly where it was but I drove through an area of Sheffield that's was a fabulous mix of old buildings and interesting businesses all sorts going, seemed really vibrant.
jsf55
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Port Talbot was more impressive by train back in the 70s where you could pass the steel works and surrounding buildings and through the station and pass BP Baglan Bay, on past the Metalbox and Eaglesbush tin plate works in Neath and journey round through Skewen and view BP Llandarcy
Beeezer
Things are really chaining for the better….
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Will have to have a google of that…
Jelly_Sheffield
Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.
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Likely Neepsend/Kelham Island.
It's at once the desirable up and coming neighbourhood, home to a bunch of heavy industrial businesses that own their premises outright, and one end of the red light district.
Weird place, but good beer and good food.
addjunkie
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Many of the ports of South Korea have big industrial complexes Okpo on Gejore Island for example. Low cost volume work now heading to China too.
Also agree with the South Wales Port Talbot area too having delivered Iron Ore there many years ago, Redcar too.
Having travelled for work for many years it changes your perspective of the UK a bit….we are small fish in a big industrial world.
indy4x
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That's good, my 09 Jeep is over 3 times that!!!
