The Britsh Pound is too high to allow Engineering in UK

[treez]

Some time ago, I worked at a successful UK owned electronics company near Bicester. (they won the Queen’s award for industry) . They designed and built LED based Ultraviolet curing heads for the printing industry. This industry has a massive, exponentially growing market.

A German Ultraviolet-based-water-sterilisation company has now bought out the UK company, and the entire setup is being taken over to Germany, jobs being lost. The German company did not have a presence in the curing industry prior to the takeover.

It is blatantly obvious that because the Euro is so much lower than the Pound, that any Engineering company in UK , can be taken over by one in Mainland Europe, and the Mainland Europeans can sell the products for less, due to the low Euro.

I applied for a job with the German company, because I knew the LED drivers inside out, however, at 43 years of age, I guess I am not of interest to any country wanting a worker.

If you are in Mainland Europe (with Euro currency), then if you want to make money, all you have to do is find a successful British Engineering company, contact their customers, then offer to make the same product for considerably less price because the Euro trades lower than the pound…..and voila!…you make decent money.

When will UK join the Euro?…and if it doesn’t , how much longer before there is not a single successful Engineering company in UK?

 

[BradtheRad]

There have been shakeouts, but at this stage it appears to be an ongoing internationally. Compare it with waterholes during a drought. Engineers like yourself must go searching for any remaining pool as smaller ones dry up.

You can be certain the economic situation has something to do with it. Did you see the recent statement from the Royal Bank of Scotland? They predict a severe downturn in 2016. One wonders if the UK needs the euro more than the euro needs the UK.

Is there any guarantee your former company will be managed successfully by the new owner? Aren't Chinese prices undercutting everyone anyway? Reliability aside? By the way Walmart (major distributor of Chinese goods) has announced they're about to close hundreds of their stores. Walmart has been the largest private employer in the US.

Is there security in the market? I can only picture something unique, like making a PV panel 60 percent efficient, cheaply, and sell the secret for a million dollars.

 

[andre_luis]

I applied for a job with the German company, because I knew the LED drivers inside out, however, at 43 years of age, I guess I am not of interest to any country wanting a worker

It is unfortunatelly the couse of the things, the older ones are not so well accepted because they have a considerable sum of knowledge acquired along years, and therefore have own opinions, which may cause embarrassment to their direct bosses in the case to argue any decision knowingly. We have to obey to what the job market demands, and in this case, a position of technical coordination could somehow keep you in the technical area as you certainy want, taking advantage of your experience.