In September 2022 we were honoured to be visited by the BBC news team as part of their news feature relating to the increasing cost of commodity items, such as electricity and steel, and the impact it is having on UK businesses.
Faisal Islam, the BBC’s Economics Editor and his team visited IAE on Thursday 1st of September to interview our Managing Director, Frank Klucznik and subsequently reported on his comments surrounding the current UK economy.
Frank commented the following:
‘As the UK’s leading manufacturer and distributor of agricultural equipment and steel fencing a large proportion of our overheads are attributed to the purchase of raw materials and the energy used to complete our manufacturing processes which include welding, galvanizing and transportation.
Over the last 12 months, we have seen our electric bills increase by 130% and our gas by 370%. In order to reduce the impact of such costs, we continually appraise our processes with a view to maximising efficiency. As part of this, over the last few years, we have installed a large solar array as well as making significant investments in energy efficient machinery and vehicles to reduce our overall energy demand.
Despite this, if inflation continues to rise at such a rapid rate it will begin to affect consumer mindsets and ultimately our business investment strategies. As a business, there is only so many costs that we are able to carry and in order to remain a profitable and successful business it will result in us having no other choice than to pass these costs onto our customer. This is not something we want to do which leads us to continue to look for ways and means to reduce our overheads.’
As not only the market leader in our field, but also one of the largest manufacturing employers in Stoke-on-Trent, we are proud to have conducted this interview with the BBC news and hope that it has shone a light on areas where significant change is required.
