Learning the way of the meerkat

Come back Alexander Meerkat, all is forgiven. The bane of commercial breaks with his annoyingly catchy ditties about a certain price comparison website could be the missing link between UK manufacturing and greatness. For the sector is saturated by growth funds: NLGSs, EFGs, EEFGs, BGFs and BFPs. There are approaching 1,500 government aid mechanisms for SMEs, according to one finance chief at an MHA MacIntyre Hudson roundtable attended by WM last month. And that's not including the banking sector, where a tailored manufacturing offer seems to be this season's Gucci. The intent behind these schemes is to be applauded. But there are just too many of them and no effective way of matching the best service to your business. Nine in ten SME owners believe recent government initiatives have not helped them and less than a quarter understand the benefits of Enterprise Finance Guarantees, according to research from accountancy firm Shelley Stock Hutter. So manufacturers are not making the most of some pretty innovative financial products (see p14). Firms are sticking dogmatically to what they know – the same old banking partners of 30 years. For some that might work just fine. However, judging by the grumblings, there's room for many others to freshen things up. A price comparison and service rating style website could really help. One function for searching the best private sector offers, another for finding the most relevant government support. It's great to hear Vince Cable confirm that a key objective of the new industry bank will be to bring support schemes under one roof. Demystify the world of finance for manufacturers and growth will be, as Alexander Meerkat might say, 'simples'. And on the subject of improved offers, you'll notice this month's WM includes extended feature content from Plant Engineer, the official journal of the Society of Operations Engineers. This is a new initiative for 2013 designed to give you, the reader, more for less. You'll get bonus content that aims to help you give your factory operations the edge, alongside all your favourite WM coverage of management matters. Happy New Year!