So far, I have managed to catch four episodes of "Inside the Factory", a series presented by Gregg Wallace and Cherry Healey, three of them on YouTube. Forty-four episodes in six series (plus one special) are available in total.
I find the episodes fascinating as they provide "behind-the-scenes" insights into how some of the most famous products in the UK are actually made.
I've seen programmes from a sock factory, a cider-making company, the Cadbury Creme Egg factory and, over the weekend, a sausage factory.
All these products are made by famous British companies on British territory, but if you look carefully at the machinery used to actually make the items, you will see that they are mostly German. Take the example of the sock factory: the machinery that made the yarn was German; the machinery that knitted the socks was Italian; and the machinery that pressed the socks was Indian. How do I know? I just noticed the name on the machines and then googled. The sausage factory had machinery made by VEMAG. The cider producer also had German machinery as did the chocolate company.
How can it be that British factories rely so much on foreign machinery? How come so much of it is German? And how will Brexit affect the producers' ability to get hold of spare parts and repairs? Or new machinery for that matter? Brexit wasn't really thought out, was it?
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If you're interested in the programmes (and they really are interesting), you can find them on the BBC website:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000r03q
If you are not in the UK, you will need to download the Beebs app, which costs EUR 40 a year and which gives you access the the programme archives of the BBC, ITV and Channel 4. And you can switch on the subtitles!
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