Member Article

North East manufacturing and engineering firms have golden opportunity to collaborate

North East manufacturing and engineering firms should seize the opportunity to work together and give the region a collective strength, the man behind Durham Oktoberfest has said.

Darren Race, who is also the chairman of South Durham Engineering and Manufacturing Forum, says there is a golden opportunity for firms to support their neighbours and make sure their supply chains start on the doorstep, as much as possible.

Speaking to Bdaily ahead of the seventh annual Oktoberfest inter-trading event in October, Darren said this year’s event has taken inspiration from cluster organisations like NEPIC and aims to get the North East’s manufacturing and engineering contingent working together.

One of the biggest challenges in the face of this is the capacity for regional SMEs to market themselves extensively.

Darren said: “In order to work together or to sell into other regional firms, you need to have the ability to market yourself effectively.

“That’s something that smaller firms simply don’t have the means to do, but it’s where the likes of Oktoberfest can come into its own.

“We’ve had numerous success stories from Oktoberfest where smaller firms have put themselves on the radar of larger operators - and successfully secured themselves a place in the supply chain.

“We’ve got some fantastic companies in the North East, but we need a better infrastructure to support those companies. It’s not always about money. Undoubtedly access to finance and skills are big factors, but equally if we can help match the right expertise from the supply chain to the business that needs it we’re taking a big step in the right direction.”

Darren and his team from North, East and South Durham Engineering Forums have worked hard to offer Oktoberfest, which is delivered in partnership with Business Durham, NOF Energy, the Advanced Manufacturing Forum, MAS and NEPIC, as a plug to this gap in the manufacturing and engineering community.

Their aim is to turn the normal event format on its head and focus Oktoberfest entirely on inter-trading and building networks in the region.

Darren added: “Oktoberfest is something we do with firms, and not to them. It’s very much led by their needs and views and the format is prescribed by our member companies.

“We’ve also introduced an 80:20 attendance ratio between manufacturing and engineering companies and service providers. One of the messages from last year’s event was that people wanted to see more producers there - so that’s what we’ve done.”

This year’s Oktoberfest will feature more than 20 significant buyers from across the region and further afield and dozens of exhibitors.

Representatives from the likes of the Ministry of Defence, NIFCO and BAE Systems, will all be on hand to chat with SMEs.

To find out more about Durham Oktoberfest and how you can get involved visit www.durhamoktoberfest.org.uk, email info@durhamoktoberfest.org.uk or call 0191 3037772.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .