Najib Maalouf, global president of Middleby Residential, has spoken out about the number of KBB companies who have recently ceased production on British soil, sharing his hopes that the government will do more to encourage UK manufacturers.
In the last 12 months, the KBB industry has seen several well-known companies speak publicly about their plans to scale back production and manufacturing in the UK. Earlier this year, Johnson Tiles said it planned to move to an outsourced production model, importing most of its products from overseas. Similarly, in July, appliance brand Hotpoint said it was considering closing its production facility in Bristol.
Speaking exclusively to kbbreview, Maalouf was asked his opinion about the recent headlines about UK manufacturing. He responded: I don’t understand that. I’ve lived in England for eight years, so I do believe greatly in this country’s ability to be great designers and manufacturers.”
He also implored the government to do more about the state of UK manufacturing, adding: “I continue to believe that the problem we’re seeing isn’t just with manufacturing, it’s with designing. There are smart designers here, so why is it that I can see this intelligence on offer, but the government doesn’t see it and encourage it? I’m baffled by that. I hope that this new government will look more favourably at manufacturing, and can really help us out with it.
“At our facility in Leamington Spa, we have the highest industry 4.0 manufacturing, which is the culmination of manufacturing sophistication. We’re not traders – we’re manufacturers, and so we have to continue to invest in manufacturing, because I fundamentally believe in the people we have.”
Maalouf gave his comments to kbbreview during the opening of Middleby’s newly-redesigned Aga showroom in Oundle, Peterborough. The 3,000 sq ft showroom space previously just displayed Aga products, but is now designed to be a co-branding space, also housing appliances under the Novy, La Cornue, Aga Outdoors, Josper and Kamadojoe brands.
