Over 20 UK-based vehicle manufacturers and high-value Tier 1 suppliers will gather at a dedicated supply chain networking event next week to meet more than 90 automotive component companies, to discuss sourcing opportunities that will strengthen and grow the UK’s £4.5 billion supply base.
With more than 200 one-to-one meetings due to take place, SMMT’s ‘Meet the Buyer’ event is the largest business building event of its kind, demonstrating industry’s commitment to boosting local component sourcing and providing a mechanism to forge new business partnerships.
“£5.6 billion of investment has been committed to UK automotive during the last 18 months and is creating major new growth opportunities for component companies across the country with vehicle manufacturers looking to secure local suppliers to support new model production,” said Paul Everitt, SMMT Chief Executive.
“By sourcing closer to their UK plants, manufacturers and major Tier 1 companies can benefit from reduced logistics costs and more open and flexible relationships with automotive suppliers. Events like ‘Meet the Buyer’ will help to facilitate greater local component sourcing, so more of the value of these products is created and retained here in the UK.”
The UK automotive supply chain has the capacity to provide more than 80% of all component types required for vehicle assembly, but vehicle manufacturers are only purchasing between 60-75% of their manufacturing requirements within the UK. A recent report, commissioned by SMMT, highlighted that there is strong ‘appetite for growth’ within the UK supply base, with almost 60% of auto suppliers confirming business growth plans to meet new demand and close the domestic sourcing gap.
Vehicle manufacturers confirmed to attend the SMMT ‘Meet the Buyer’ event as ‘buying’ organisations include Aston Martin, Bentley, BMW, Ford, General Motors, Jaguar Land Rover, Nissan and TATA Motors. Tier 1 supplier companies attending include Aisin Europe, Bosch, CAB Automotive, Calsonic Kansei, Faurecia, Futaba Tenneco, Grupo Antolin, IAC Group, Jtekt/Koyo, Kahn Design, Koito, Kostal UK, LuK UK, Mobis Parts, Sanoh UK Manufacturing, and Scorpion Automotive.
The participating supply chain companies for this event were selected via SMMT’s Automotive Supplier Finder (ASF) database (autosupplierfinder.com), a tool designed specifically to match buyers to suppliers based on the UK automotive commodity demand list that was published earlier this year.
For more information about participating as a buyer or a supplier at future SMMT ‘Meet the Buyer’ events, visit: smmt.co.uk/meet-the-buyer.
About Meet the Buyer:
All buyers attending SMMT ‘Meet the Buyer’ events are asked to provide details of commodities they are looking to source from UK suppliers, as this forms the basis of SMMT’s 2012 automotive commodity list. UK-based suppliers are encouraged to use the commodity list and put themselves forward as potential suppliers to attend the events. The decision on whether a company is invited to an event is the responsibility of the attending buyers. All of SMMT ‘Meet the Buyer’ events are invitation-only.
SMMT’s Automotive Supplier Finder (ASF) service represents one of the largest and most comprehensive databases of automotive companies operating in the UK. Used as the primary source to find suppliers for SMMT ‘Meet the Buyer’ events, the database is able to define companies by products and services, quality standards and plant capabilities.
