Who says we don't make anything any more? In the first of a three-part series on how Britain pays its way in the world, Evan Davis busts the myths that we were wrong to let so much of our manufacturing go abroad, and that we have become a nation of shopkeepers, bankers and estate agents. As he flies in the world's most revolutionary jet and drives one of the world's fastest supercars, he discovers Britain still makes a lot it can be proud of. But post crash, he asks is it enough to meet the country's bills.
How can Britain stay ahead of its competitors in the global economy? In the second part of his investigation into what we do and make in Britain, Evan Davis argues it's right for Britain to concentrate on excelling in the knowledge economy. Industries such as pharmaceuticals and technology, which rely on innovation creativity and invention, can contribute greatly to the nation's bank balance. Evan travels to Silicon Fen outside Cambridge to see the high-tech company worth billions after designing chips for mobile phones, and tells the story of how one invention transformed the fortunes of glass makers Pilkington. He also visits China to investigate how British branding and marketing expertise is faring in this new and booming market.
Evan Davis looks at the explosive growth of Britain's services economy in the third and final part of the series. Modern Britain has undergone a remarkable change in recent years: shifting from manufacturing to services. But is this good or bad news? Evan travels to Dubai to explore how our service expertise has been successfully exported around the world and, back home, sees how British services make a fortune by attracting wealthy customers to the UK. Evan shows how architects, communication specialists, universities and even estate agents together contribute billions of pounds to the economy. But can we entirely rely on services to help us pay our way in the world? And what have been the social consequences of our great services experiment?
