Banelec is joining manufacturers across Britain in celebrating National Manufacturing Day, with Managing Director Dean Banner and Operations Director Jennie Banner calling on the sector to show greater pride in the skills, people and engineering expertise found across UK industry. Organised by Make UK, National Manufacturing Day takes place on Thursday 24 September and will see manufacturers open their doors to schools, colleges and communities across the country.
For Banelec, the occasion has a particular resonance. The Staffordshire engineering company has spent decades working alongside manufacturers, designing and installing electrical control systems, integrating automation and robotics, repairing and modernising cranes and helping engineering teams keep complex machinery working.
That experience has given Dean Banner a close-up view of the capability that exists inside British factories.
“We should be proud of manufacturing and we should be much louder about the work that goes on inside our factories,” said Dean. “There are some incredibly talented people working across British industry. We see it when our engineers are out on site. We work with businesses solving complex engineering problems, investing in automation and finding better ways to manufacture. There is a huge amount of knowledge within this sector.”
National Manufacturing Day was created in part to give people a clearer view of modern manufacturing and the careers available within it. Make UK describes the annual event as a UK-wide open house, bringing manufacturers together with future talent, schools, colleges and local communities.
The scale of the industry remains considerable. Make UK figures put UK manufacturing output at £220 billion, supporting 2.6 million jobs. Manufacturers also account for 48% of UK business research and development.
For Jennie Banner, those figures tell part of the story. The people behind them matter just as much.
“Manufacturing gives people the opportunity to build a proper career around practical skills, technology and engineering,” she said. “You can walk into a manufacturing business today and see engineers working with PLCs, robotics, drives, control systems and sophisticated production equipment. There are experienced engineers passing knowledge on and younger people bringing new ideas into the workplace. That is something worth celebrating.”
Engineering behind the factory floor
Banelec’s own work provides an illustration of how much manufacturing has changed. The company designs and builds bespoke electrical control systems around the individual requirements of machinery and production processes. Its engineers work on automation projects, PLC programming, robotic integration, machinery upgrades and crane control systems, supporting manufacturers across a broad range of industries.
Projects have taken the Banelec team into automotive plants, food production facilities and heavy industrial environments, as well as highly specialised engineering applications The common thread is engineering.
“We get involved when a customer has a challenge that needs solving,” Dean explained. “Sometimes that means creating a completely new control system. Sometimes it involves bringing automation into a process or upgrading machinery that has already given years of service “That problem-solving side of engineering is one of the reasons manufacturing is such a rewarding sector to work in. You can stand back at the end of a project and see what the team has created.”
Automation is increasingly part of that picture. Robotics, sensors, variable speed drives, PLCs and connected control technology are giving manufacturers greater control over production while creating demand for engineers who understand how those technologies work together.
It is also changing the range of careers available within the sector.
Giving manufacturing the profile it deserves
Make UK’s National Manufacturing Day campaign encourages manufacturers to show young people what happens inside modern industrial businesses. Site visits, demonstrations and conversations with engineers can give students a direct view of careers that may previously have felt distant from the classroom.
The 2026 campaign specifically highlights the opportunities available through manufacturing apprenticeships, reskilling and career development across industries including automotive, aerospace, defence, food and drink, chemicals and pharmaceuticals Jennie believes manufacturers themselves have an important role in telling that story.
“People need the opportunity to see manufacturing,” she said. “When you see the technology, the scale of the machinery and the expertise of the people operating and maintaining it, you understand how exciting the sector can be “We are proud of what our engineers do at Banelec and proud of the customers we work alongside. Manufacturing creates skilled careers and gives people the chance to spend their working lives making, improving and solving things.”
That pride runs through Banelec’s own history. Its engineers may spend one week developing an automated production system and another working on a crane or industrial control project. Each job draws on the practical engineering knowledge built through years of working alongside manufacturers.
Dean wants National Manufacturing Day to encourage more companies to share that side of the industry.
“Britain has generations of manufacturing knowledge and there are businesses across the country continuing to invest in their people, machinery and technology,” he said. “We are proud to be one of them. We are proud to employ engineers, proud to work with manufacturers and proud that the systems our team designs and installs become part of factories producing things every day.
“National Manufacturing Day gives the whole sector an opportunity to celebrate that.”