Pictured above: MAS-WM Chief Executive Simon Griffiths

The Manufacturing Advisory Service - West Midlands (MAS-WM) is urging manufacturers to seize a unique opportunity to tell the Government what they really think about the rules and regulations that affect them. 

Between Thursday 21 July and Thursday 11 August, the Government's Red Tape Challenge turns its attention to manufacturers, giving small and medium sized businesses a chance to shape future policy decisions. 

Companies will be able to share their opinions about the regulations that affect them - which should stay, which should be simplified and which should be removed. The good news being that the default presumption will be that burdensome regulations will go. If Ministers want to keep them, they have to make a very good case for them to stay.

MAS-WM Chief Executive Simon Griffiths commented: "The Red Tape Challenge really is a rare opportunity for manufacturers to have their say on the regulations that affect them. That's why we are urging them to take part and tell the Government what changes they would like to see." 

MAS is designed to help manufacturers achieve improvements in their productivity and competitiveness. It frequently works with small and medium sized businesses to help them meet regulatory and industry standards and sees the pressures that they are under first-hand.

Those wishing to contribute should visit the Red Tape Challenge website www.redtapechallenge.cabinetoffice.gov.uk. Input will then be reviewed by Ministers who have three months to decide which regulations they will scrap, with the presumption that all burdensome regulations that cannot be justified will go.