Why did we go to Barrow?

Last week BECBC held our first Energy Networx event in the Barrow area and I’ve had a few people ask me why we’re now doing meetings around the county when we traditionally held them at Energus in Workington. Over the last two years we've spread our wings as far as Penrith and now, as I say, to Barrow. Let me share our thoughts…..

Historically here in Cumbria we’ve had two large concentrations of nuclear supply chain, one focussing on decommissioning around Sellafield and one focussing on defence based around BAE. This all reflects a real geographical division of the county of Cumbria which has, frankly, a huge set of mountains right in the middle. To get anywhere you generally have to go around the mountains which takes time and makes everywhere in the county feel more spread out than it should be if you look from a birds eye view (or on a map from elsewhere in the country).

Having two large anchor customers, both operating on government contracts, in the county has had some consequences that wouldn’t be immediately apparent if you don’t live here. First up it makes our communities heavily dependant on budget decisions made in Westminster. Both Barrow and West Cumbria have seen deep impacts over the years on their communities when the anchor customer has seen their income cut. You only have to read this BBC news article from 2003 to get a feeling for the impact that is felt and West Cumbria has had similar impacts historically. Often these have happened as if on rotation with one community getting a strong pipeline of contracts just as the other community faces a decrease in spending.

All these factors have caused a situation where supply chain companies in each area have unfortunately regarded the other with some suspicion. “They’re only here because they want the contracts that should go to our local firms” would describe it well. But we’re seeing something different happening now. Something that is all about people.

Think about what supply chain means to you. According to the Chartered Institute of Procurement and Supply (CIPS) “In its simplest form, a supply chain is the activities required to deliver goods or services to the consumer.” For me supply chain is about people, people who come together to deliver for a customer and make a difference for the community they operate in.

The nuclear supply chain has been talking about skills shortages for a long time and there’s no doubt we need more people but in the meantime companies collaborating across all tiers of the supply chain can take some of the pressure off. That’s what we’ve been seeing happening and why we believe that supply chain, which works across both main customers, could hold the key to those companies thriving through diversifying so they don’t get hit as hard by budget decisions from Westminster. This would also be the key to both communities improving deprivation figures in geographical pockets surrounded by affluence which have been entrenched over decades.

Here at BECBC we create an environment for members to do business and we’ve fostered collaboration in one area of our county over the last 22 years. We believe in the power of supply chain and hope that having our meetings around the county will foster that same collaboration between two proud industrial areas who, while they each have their own identity, have so much in common.