Makers defy the credit crunch

4:58pm Monday 7th April 2008

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Manufacturing in Colchester is alive and well, just operating differently, according to a Government minister.

Recent figures from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) show that the sector is doing well compared to the rest of the economy, which is feeling the effects of the global credit crunch.

Although Colchester's large manufacturers, including Paxman, have long gone, it does not mean the town does not manufacture, said the Government's East of England Minister, Barbara Follett.

"We do manufacture but we don't necessarily make the huge things any more. The dotcom industries, these are manufacturing of a kind. And we do manufacture a lot of pharmaceuticals," she said.

Neil Yule, of Flakt Woods, agreed.

The UK business unit director for the firm, which manufactures large-scale fans from a site in Axial Way, Colchester Business Park, said: "Manufacturing has certainly transformed from what it was 30 years ago.