15
Dec 2025
25th Nov 2025
As the Chancellor prepares to deliver her Budget this week, UK manufacturers find themselves in a familiar position: hopeful, but wary. The sector has been promised a renaissance many times; what it needs now is policy that matches the ambition of the companies still investing, innovating and exporting despite global volatility.
Few firms encapsulate this blend of resilience and forward momentum better than Rowan Precision, the Birmingham-based CNC machining specialist celebrating 40 years of high-tolerance engineering. Freshly acquired in full by OSYS Rowan Limited, the company is entering a new chapter under the stewardship of CFO Glenn Aston and CCO Jaz Khunkun — both long-time advocates for a strong, modern, globally competitive British manufacturing base.
From the boardroom in Birmingham, the message from Rowan Precision’s leadership is unequivocal: this Budget will be a litmus test of whether the government genuinely understands what manufacturers need to thrive.
“Manufacturers can adapt to almost anything except uncertainty,” says Glenn Aston, a veteran CFO with more than three decades in UK industrials. “We invest in machines that have working lives of a decade or more. You can’t plan that kind of capital cycle if the tax environment shifts every 12 months.”
Aston points to previous periods where capital allowances, R&D tax credits and digital-adoption incentives have been revised, redefined, or scrapped altogether. Each change forces boardrooms to hit pause, reassess, and often re-sequence investments.
“For precision engineering firms like ours, stability is crucial,” he adds. “It’s the foundation of productivity. If the Chancellor wants manufacturers to invest, then give us a policy framework that lasts longer than the machine-tool warranty.”
Rowan Precision is known for its advanced machining capability: sliding-head 13-axis CNC turning, multi-axis fixed-head mill-turn centres, and five-axis machining cells capable of delivering complex geometries in a single operation. But keeping that capability world-class requires relentless investment.
“Advanced manufacturing is literally what we do every day,” says Chief Commercial Officer Jaz Khunkun. “Customers in aerospace, defence and high-performance engineering demand tolerances that leave zero room for error. If the UK wants to lead in these sectors, government policy must support the adoption of high-precision technology, automation and digital quality systems.”
Khunkun, who has championed manufacturing competitiveness throughout his career, argues that the Budget is a critical lever — beyond local manufacturing, for the entire national supply chain.
“Give companies confidence to invest in robotics, metrology, digital twins, multi-axis machining — the capabilities that keep work in Britain rather than seeing it migrate overseas,” he says. “If we want to strengthen the UK’s industrial backbone, we must reward ambition.”
While the industry celebrates innovation, no amount of cutting-edge equipment can fully offset the reality of cost inflation. Energy, labour and raw materials remain stubbornly high — and brutally unforgiving for precision manufacturers operating on tight margins.
“We’re not asking for handouts,” Glenn Aston stresses. “But energy pricing for industrial users has to be competitive with European peers, or we’ll always be running uphill. The same goes for employer taxes. The Budget needs to recognise that manufacturing is capital-intensive and strategically important.”
He notes that manufacturers want to invest, expand, and hire — “though we can only do that if the economics make sense.”
Khunkun is equally direct about the need for the Budget to acknowledge the UK’s regional manufacturing clusters — particularly in the Midlands.
“The Midlands built Britain’s manufacturing reputation. Companies like ours keep that heritage alive,” he says. “But we shouldn’t have to fight harder than other regions just to remain competitive.”
He argues for targeted investment in skills, apprenticeships, and engineering careers, alongside support for export-focused SMEs.
“If the Chancellor wants growth, then back the regions where manufacturing excellence already exists. We just need the investment to scale.”
After undergoing acquisition last year, Rowan Precision enters its fifth decade with renewed ambition. The acquisition by OSYS Rowan has fortified the company’s long-term growth plans and injected new strategic focus.
But both Aston and Khunkun emphasise that the future of UK manufacturing cannot rely solely on company-level commitment.
“This Budget is an opportunity for the government to demonstrate that it sees manufacturing as part of Britain’s future, not its past,” Aston says. “Give us a stable foundation, reward investment, support skills, and make energy competitive — and UK manufacturers will do the rest.”
Khunkun sums it up more bluntly:
“The sector fears neglect. If the Chancellor gets this right, British industry will respond with jobs, exports and innovation. If she gets it wrong, the cost will be felt for a decade.”
For Rowan Precision, the stakes are clear. Precision manufacturing requires precision policy — not vague ambition. With world-class capability and new leadership at the helm, the company stands ready to invest, innovate and grow.