The govt was also charged with ”complacency” over Britain’s world-leading motorsports industry and warned that other nations are lining up to poach the hitech work and staff.
The industry was hailed by the council as one of the ”crown jewels of UK manufacturing”, with 4,500 home businesses centred around Silverstone supporting 38,500 roles and generating yearly sales of more than £6 bln – of which sixty per cent are exports.
But the cross-party panel announced ministers had sidelined the industry, treating it as a focused market in the wider automotive sector. In a dispatch revealed today, the MPs entreated Lord Mandelson’s Business Dep. to create a consultant policy team with accountability for the motorsport industry. And the council raised concerns over motorsports engineering courses offered in British colleges, highlighting an inclination for scholars to be taught motorsports management instead of more comprehensive technical engineering material. In today’s ‘Full Speed Ahead’ report, the panel stated that it was ‘’struck by the dearth of understanding and effective engagement by Government”.
The industry repeatedly told us the govt was complacent about UK leadership in this sector,” the report writers added. The English Grand Prix at Silverstone is one of just two races in the Formula One calendar not to enjoy finance support from the host executive, noted the report. Council CEO Peter Luff claimed : ”Motorsport is a business of countrywide seriousness, and the govt. wants to recognize this. We find it complicated to fantasize any other country sidelining such a vital industry. ”The State needs to handle this problem if the United Kingdom is to maintain this pre-eminent global industry and help it flourish.”. ”The aerospace industry is very competitive and other central authorities aren’t frightened to spend important quantities of cash supporting their home-grown industry,” declared Mr Luff.
