THE UK’s trade with the rest of the world is significantly out of balance, and a big part of the reason for this is that we have simply stopped manufacturing the goods that British consumers want to buy.

In February, the deficit of trade in goods and services with the rest of the world was £2.1bn.

The deficit on trade in goods alone was £9.1bn, according to the Office for National Statistics.

We import many types of products, from clothing to electrical goods, not because we can’t make them, but because we think it is cheaper to buy them in from other countries.

In fact, we are perfectly capable of making many of these goods, and doing it to the highest standards.

There will always be a place for global trade, because there are things we can’t make here and goods which we can produce which other countries are simply incapable of manufacturing, but it has gone much too far.

The impression many people have that it is cheaper to import goods is based upon a very narrow view.

When we buy clothes from the Far East, we not only pay for them to be made in that country using cheaper labour, we pay for them to be transported, adding to the cost.

Additionally, we pay, via our taxes and benefits system, for the people in this country who could be employed in a factory in the UK to make the products here.

Why not just take those people out of unemployment, give them jobs in UK factories and make the products here?

It is easy to see the benefits of manufacturing to the economic health of the UK. The UK used to be a nation of people who make things.

If the Government looked at the things we consume in this country and put its focus on supporting the manufacture of those goods here, it could create an environment for businesses to restore balance to our trade with the rest of the world, create jobs and generate wealth for UK plc.

There is a lot of focus upon high tech goods and innovation, but the value of making basic things well cannot be underestimated.

Tonight, the BBC2 show, Digby Jones: The New Troubleshooter, will highlight how our business in Newton Aycliffe is expanding the range of products it manufactures and is breathing new life into what was once a popular British brand, Norfrost.

IN late 2012, Icetech, the company in the far north of Scotland which manufactured Norfrost chest freezers, collapsed following the demise of retailers such as Comet.

Last year, we bought the Norfrost brand, designs and machinery and in the next few weeks we will start to make Norfrost freezers at a new factory we have fitted out in Aycliffe.

Had we not done this, the gap left in the market by the disappearance of Norfrost would almost certainly have been filled by imported goods.

This would have played a role in widening the trade gap, creating jobs abroad at the expense of British workers, and sending more UK consumers’ money out of the country.

Instead, we have transported the manufacturing facility to County Durham and created jobs in this area. Alongside other projects, including the forthcoming introduction of the manufacture of washing machines to the UK, with the first of those products expected off the line later this year, we anticipate an overall doubling of our 200-strong workforce.

These are sustainable jobs created in an area where we know there are people who want to work in good, honest jobs, but the opportunities simply have not been there, because factories have closed.

FOR the past few months, Lord Digby Jones, the former Trade Minister and CBI boss, has been working alongside our team as we prepare to re-launch the Norfrost brand. He has put us to the test, challenged our ways of thinking, and helped us fine tune our operations. Like us, he comes from a part of the country which was built upon manufacturing, and he shares our passion for making things.

During the process, he has been followed by a TV crew making his BBC2 programme and we hope that the exposure this gives not only us, but the possibilities created by our industry, will show the rest of the country what the value of manufacturing is to the UK.

We hope it will help to open the eyes of decision makers in positions of power, so that they come to realise the benefits of import substitution, the process of swapping a false economic reliance upon imports with goods that are made here in this country for the UK market.

  • Digby Jones: The New Troubleshooter is on on BBC2 tonight at 8pm.