The Future of FMCG manufacturing begins Now
Servitization is reshaping the future of UK manufacturing. Across the sector, firms are exploring its potential, piloting new approaches, and refining strategies to embrace services alongside products. This report presents the most comprehensive and relevant analysis to date of how Servitization is shaping the commercial and environmental performance of UK firms – and why it now demands serious attention from both business and policy leaders.
The benefits are clear, but the case for Servitization extends far beyond individual firm performance. It speaks to the UK’s industrial competitiveness in a global market that has shifted dramatically over the past two decades. Over that time, 20% of global manufacturing has shifted from the West to China, equating to trillions in lost output and millions of high-value jobs. For the UK, the consequences are clear: there has been an erosion of high-value industrial capability, export capacity, and supply-chain resilience. If this trend continues unchecked, as much as a further 3–4% of GDP could be at risk over the next decade.
Manufacturing’s multiplier effects across supply chains, innovation, regional development, and national security make this erosion especially damaging. Traditional responses such as cost reduction, lean methods, and product innovation cannot close the structural cost gap with Asia. Emerging technologies such as AI offer powerful new tools, but without commercial models to capture their value, they risk becoming another transient advantage.
Servitization changes the game. It monetises AI, deepens customer relationships, builds recurring revenue, enables the circular economy, and shifts competition from price to value in use. However, realising this potential will require more than isolated initiatives or gradual change. Incremental adoption will be too slow to capture the opportunity.
To realise the full potential of Servitization, UK manufacturers must act decisively. The opportunity is significant for firms of all sizes and sectors. The risk of inaction is greater still. Servitization is amongst the strongest levers available to UK manufacturers. With the right leadership and support, it can position the UK as a global leader in industrial services – and secure a resilient, competitive future.
Stephen Phipson CBE
Chief Executive Officer, Make UK
