Use the success of UK motorsport to boost international trade

Hundreds of UK high performance engineering suppliers are celebrating that their customer, Mercedes AMG Petronas F1, has won its third world Formula One championship in succession.  This outstanding result, which follows the decision by Mercedes-Benz to invest in their own Formula One team located at Brackley and Brixworth in the heart of the UK’s Motorsport Valley, surely exceeds even their most optimistic expectations.

Many forget, it was only a few years ago that Mercedes returned to Formula One and chose the UK to be their base, linked closely to their exceptional R&D facilities in Germany. This successful German-British organisation demonstrates how two world-class business communities can interact efficiently and effectively, handling all the challenges of the longest Formula One season in history.

In addition to overcoming engineering challenges, their UK organisation with some 1500 employees, also handles the mind-boggling logistics needed to deliver winning solutions in an engineering-based competition which takes place all over the world, virtually every second weekend.

“All their suppliers will be proud to have played a part in the success of this great team and I congratulate each one of them” says Motorsport Industry Association (MIA)  CEO Chris Aylett.  “the UK Government must surely be over the moon to be hosting one of the world’s greatest automotive companies, which has chosen this country to be the centre of their high performance engineering output for Formula One.  The close relationship between UK based engineers and those in Germany, has proved to be a winning formula. This will catch the attention of many automotive high technology companies who will see the UK as a perfect base for their R&D activities at a time of great technological challenges in their sector.”

The UK continues to be the chosen base for eight out of the 11 Formula One teams, where the positive business environment, close knit supply chain, flexible working conditions and talented people attracts them to Motorsport Valley UK.  Since motorsport powertrains became hybrid, and electric power is central to another UK-based world championship, Formula E, the global reputation of the UK as a base for high performance engineering has been strengthened through the powerful promotional message of world motorsport.

“I strongly encourage UK government and the Department for International Trade, to actively embrace the global success of the UK motorsport industry, and use this unbeatable community as a beacon to attract inward investment and export business for the UK” says Chris Aylett  “This a vital time when the UK can restate its credentials in R&D, innovation and high performance engineering, as demonstrated by the outstanding performance of UK suppliers in the highly competitive engineering competition which is global motorsport. It’s no lucky coincidence that great companies such as Mercedes Benz, choose to be located in Motorsport Valley UK.”

“The UK needs to urgently expand its international trade,” continued Aylett “so let’s grab this chance to take the highly publicised success of our motorsport supply chain to all corners of the world and use this to attract more innovative automotive OEMS and Tier 1 companies to this country. The MIA is committed to do all it can to strengthen the expertise available to Mercedes Benz in the UK and other OEMs here, linking their performance with new government initiatives which support R&D, and our superb educational institutions. I want to see UK motorsport engineering prowess and leadership being more widely used by the UK government to attract investment into UK high performance engineering. This is a unique chance that should delight Dr Liam Fox as Secretary of State for International Trade and one that he cannot afford to overlook.

About the MIA

The Motorsport Industry Association (MIA) www.the-mia.com is the world’s leading trade association for the motorsport and high performance engineering sectors. It represents the specialised needs of this highly successful industry which, although extending throughout the world and rapidly expanding in the developing nations, is centred here in the UK.

The MIA membership displays a wide demographic spread, and includes motorsport and performance engineering companies, race and rally teams, governing bodies, motorsport service and research organisations, race circuits, universities and colleges.