24.02.25

Over the last decade, regulation in the UK has changed rapidly, leaving manufacturers to adapt and re-adapt to meet new circumstances, whether they were expected (such as Brexit) or unexpected (such as health and safety requirements during the COVID-19 pandemic). 

Though manufacturers have been fleet-of-foot to keep up with a fast-changing landscape, the pace of this change has nonetheless been unrelenting. Rapid technological advancement, the challenge of net zero, changes in UK-EU trade rules, and other global disruptions to supply chains have all significantly impacted how trade and economic prosperity is conducted and shared.

Regulations play a crucial role in guiding businesses and ensuring consistency on the road to this prosperity. In a world where the EU and other major trading economies such as the USA, India and China are advancing ambitious regulatory agendas in areas like AI, energy, and industrial decarbonisation, the UK must be ready to respond.

In this report - UK Manufacturing: The Case for Effective Regulation - we put forward a new approach to how regulations are devised, implemented and then reviewed, guided by clear principles. In applying this to both existing and new regulation, Government can create regulations that work for the growth of businesses, the rights of workers and consumers, and the good of the environment.

Available resources