What manufacturing needs is trade directories backed by government data.

What manufacturing needs is trade directories backed by government data.

Every sector of the economy could probably do with this. If you've ever thought of getting a printer and realised the infinate variety of kinds of printing and binding and minimum orders, you will probably have found trade directories and done a bit of googling. The same is true of services as well, if you want to find the right lawyer or plumber. With manufacturing, there are extra problems and it doesn't matter why, although I think I can describe, it just matters that it's true. I know it's true from trying to sell vegan footwear in the 2000s and 2010s.

A year or so ago I wrote something for a government consulation and dump the text here because public. I will try to edit a little this June '26 



This is what I wrote.

I propose greater access to raw data on

• employment types,

• industrial classifications (from VAT and income tax records), and

• export data by product classification and manufacturing origin.

Companies House already provides business classification data, which could be refined and supplemented with additional data sources. The goal is to enable the creation of comprehensive UK trade directories, similar to historical resources like The Shoe Trades Directory to identify which firms manufacture specific products in the UK—from footwear and clothing to solar panels.

It looks as though a government consultation suggested this format.

 1. Who looses?
 1. Who looses?
 3. What about doing nothing? How much do Google, AI, or private sector directories like Kompass or Checkatrade do the job already?

 1. Who looses?

 • Small business privacy concerns:
Some sole traders may prefer confidentiality, but might forget to tick a box on their tax form to request this. They might prefer an anonimous kind of contact form instead of a name and address for contact.

 • Diverting public expenditure:
Paid staff have to process Freedom of Information (FOI) requests and maintain an online database to reduce further FOI requests. On the other hand, this would help other government departments; we already pay. There are overseas trade envoys who lack a list of UK producers to promote. There are regional development agencies, trying to understand why manufacturing has declined in their areas, what’s left, and whether they can help. There are economists trying to model inflation who have no detail about the supply side of the economy. So they suggest interest rate rises to reduce demand instead of ways to increase supply. Money could be transferred from one or two of these budgets to make a central database.

 • Legal & policy change: Currently, FOI requests for HMRC data are rejected under the Commissioners for Revenue and Customs Act 2005. However, the Act does allow exceptions where "specified in regulations made by the Treasury" or where "the Commissioners are satisfied that it is in the public interest" (Section 20, UK Legislation). So, ministers and senior people in the treasury have to write regulations or persuade “commissioners”.

 2. Who gains?

Trade directories benefit...

 • Jobseekers: Easier access to local employers and industry information.

 • Apprenticeship providers: Improved visibility of relevant businesses for placements.

 • Buyers & sellers: Businesses searching for niche products (e.g., wiring looms, speaker cones, footwear components) would have a reliable resource. A past example includes a car manufacturer requesting tariff exemptions due to difficulty sourcing specific UK-made components.

 • Economic planners & policymakers: Identifying supply chain bottlenecks could help reduce inflationary pressures, particularly after disruptions like wars, currency fluctuations, or trade sanctions. Example: it was hard to find enough cotton surgical gowns during COVID.
The UK produced non-woven materials for things like weed control fabric, but there was nowhere for buyers to look to find cotton alternatives; there were schemes to try to out- bid other countries and get gowns from China.

The UK produced medical ventilators for very ill people during the COVID crisis with the designs already worked-out and ready to make in bigger quantities, but I remember that this information emerged slowly.

 • National security & trade policy: The UK needs resilient supply chains. If the USA restricts weapons exports or trade tensions with China escalate, policymakers must quickly identify local alternatives.

 • MPs and regional development agencies
...need to know what is already being made in their areas in order to help if they can

 • Journalists and bloggers 
This is a few points in one.
Journalists report on "a previously unknown private mine" if there is an accident or "possibly the last piano manufacturer" when Yamaha ceased production. A story about one of the last two scissor manufacturers caught-on and kept production viable. 

 • Startups & innovators: Smaller firms, particularly those competing against low-cost imports, struggle with advertising budgets. As the founder of The Kinky Boot Factory noted in a documentary, imported shoes enter the UK at £15, while the rest of the wholesale cost is advertising. UK manufacturers cannot afford such advertising, and a trade directory would level the playing field.

 • Larger importers: Companies reliant on long supply chains from Asia (typically 2-3 months by sea) could source top-ups and trials from local UK suppliers, reducing the need for:
 ◦ Shorter lead times, which can lead to worse labor conditions.
 ◦ Expensive & high-emission air freight.
 ◦ Discounting unsellable stock due to missing product variations.

3. What about doing nothing?
How much do Google, AI, or private sector directories like Kompass or Checkatrade do the job already?

The problem is manufactuers, not service providers.

 • Historical context:
A Shoe Trades Directory from circa 2000 listed nearly every footwear and footwear component manufacturer in the UK, including batch sizes, pricing tiers, and production methods. This allowed buyers to contact the right suppliers with the right questions and most likely get a reply. It was sponsored by a shoe trade magazine where the advertising sales staff had ato make the list anyway. The internet now provides some of this information for free and footwear trade magazines are long-gone in the UK, but the subtle detail of who makes exactly what in what minimum orders and whether they are mass-market, “top end” or in the middle are hard to find.

 • Manufacturing is rare and subdivided into more specialities than the people on Checkatrade who can probably concentrate on a few postcodes and do more than one kind of job. Manufacturing depends on a set of machines and the product the machines usually make.

 • Competition from cheap countries that lack a welfare state. You might expect the UK’s only manufacturer of some particular niche product to be good at sifting emails for customer enquiries. The reality for clothing manufacturers, according to the Make it British web site, is that they are more like some of the plumbers and plasterers on Checkatrade, working without a receptionist or a sales rep and just scanning the emails on a smartphone in-between a load of other jobs. They tend not to list their capabilities online, leading to many ignored inquiries from businesses unaware of minimum order requirements or production methods. Proposed Solution I propose the creation of an online database of UK manufacturers, based on HMRC records but excluding private individuals. Businesses could be listed as either:

 • “Willing to receive inquiries”, or
 • “Opted out of direct contact”

The database should be indexed by:

 • Manufacturing classification (from VAT/income tax records).

 • Export/import declarations.

 • Workforce size categories (e.g., "1-10 employees").

 • Companies House classification (improved by prompts on Companies House forms to clarify what "manufacturer" means such as "manufactuer with own workshops in the UK".

 • Optional business self-submissions, including website links, production details, and minimum order requirements.

Such a publicly accessible resource would encourage the private sector to develop value-added directories, including Kompass that already exists, while improving domestic trade efficiency.

Conclusion

A UK-wide manufacturing database would enhance transparency, strengthen local supply chains, and reduce unnecessary imports, benefiting businesses, workers, and policymakers alike. The key is to ensure privacy safeguards, minimal taxpayer burden, and a user-friendly format to encourage adoption. Would be happy to discuss further.
Update July 2026 with more AI searcehs

I didn't know that there are web pages like this one
https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/requesting-hmrc-data-guidance-for-public-bodies/how-to-request-data-from-hmrc
and this one
https://www.gov.uk/hmrc-internal-manuals/information-disclosure-guide/idg40120

I didn't know that government procurement was being altered to try to encourage local manufactuing; I haven't looked-up how the new procurement system needs trade directores. 

I mention emergency procurement but don't reference the COVID enquiry which I didn't follow; there's probably video evdidence of officials from the Cabinet Office or 10 Downing Street discussing how they tried  to track down ventilators or hospital gowns. 

I didn't use AI to find out what government is already writing about and doing. If I had done, the answer would use terms like economic resilience, supply-chain resilience, economic security, or strategic resilience.

Economic Security Strategy (published under the previous government)

• Reduce vulnerabilities to hostile states.
• Protect critical technologies.
• Avoid excessive dependence on a single supplier or country.

Critical Imports and Supply Chain Resilience

• After COVID, the government became much more aware of risks from relying on one country for PPE, pharmaceuticals, electronics, batteries, rare earths, etc.
• The aim is often diversification rather than full UK production.

National Security and Investment Act

• Allows government scrutiny of foreign takeovers in sensitive sectors such as semiconductors, defence and communications.

Critical Minerals Strategy

• Seeks alternative sources for minerals used in batteries, electronics and defence systems.

Advanced Manufacturing Plan

• Supports sectors considered strategically important, such as batteries, aerospace, life sciences and clean energy technology.