Why collaboration is becoming part of UK manufacturing’s competitive edge

For manufacturers across the UK, some of the most useful conversations about growth are taking place beyond the factory gate.

Regent Engineering Managing Director Stuart Whitehouse saw that first-hand at his first in-person ConeX Portal event, joining manufacturers and suppliers brought together to make new connections, share knowledge and explore opportunities to work together.

For the Darlaston manufacturer, which celebrates 85 years in business in 2026, the morning reinforced the value of a strong industrial network at a time when UK companies are pursuing opportunities across aerospace, defence, infrastructure and advanced manufacturing.

“Manufacturing has always been built around relationships,” said Whitehouse. “You can have excellent capability within your own business, but there is enormous value in knowing what other companies can do, where their strengths lie and where you can complement one another.

“What struck me at the ConeX event was the attitude in the room. These were people who genuinely wanted UK manufacturers to work together and succeed. That creates the right environment for useful conversations.”

Regent Engineering operates across pressings and assemblies, steel fabrication and its own manufactured products, with capabilities spanning metal pressings and stampings, heavy fabrication, robotic laser welding and complex manufactured assemblies.

That breadth also brings the company into contact with customers whose requirements can extend across several manufacturing disciplines. Building relationships with complementary suppliers can therefore create stronger routes to market and help UK businesses respond collectively to larger opportunities.

Whitehouse believes networking works best when it moves beyond exchanging business cards and becomes a way of understanding the industrial capability available within the UK supply chain.

“There is a huge amount of manufacturing expertise in this country,” he said. “The more we understand each other’s capabilities, the easier it becomes to make introductions, recommend companies and put the right businesses together when an opportunity comes along.

“You might meet somebody today where there is no immediate project between you, then six months later a customer asks for something that sits perfectly within their capability. That knowledge has real value.”

The principle is particularly relevant for SMEs. Major programmes in aerospace, defence and infrastructure frequently require a combination of processes, capacity and specialist knowledge. A connected manufacturing community gives companies greater visibility of the expertise around them and opens the door to collaboration across individual contracts and supply chains.

It also keeps more conversations within British industry.

“UK manufacturing benefits when companies are prepared to talk to each other and recognise that another manufacturer can be a collaborator as well as a competitor,” Whitehouse added. “There is plenty of work to pursue, both here and internationally. Stronger connections give us a better chance of winning it and delivering it together.”

Whitehouse thanked Christopher Greenough and Sam Baynham for hosting the event and bringing together a group of manufacturing professionals with a shared interest in strengthening the sector.

“My first in-person ConeX Portal event was a very worthwhile morning,” he said. “I met some excellent people and came away with new connections and a better understanding of the capabilities within the network. That is exactly what good manufacturing networking should achieve.”