Brett Barratt, Managing Director of Warrior Doors, discusses the Budget and the future of UK manufacturing
Following the Chancellor’s recent Budget announcement, one message continues to resonate from manufacturing-led regions across the UK: meaningful, targeted investment in engineering and industrial capability remains essential — not only for the businesses that make up this sector, but for the long-term prosperity, safety, and resilience of local communities. Few companies embody this interconnected mission more strongly than Birmingham-based Warrior Doors, whose work protecting retailers, community centres, housing associations and critical infrastructure sites sits firmly within the wider ecosystem of British manufacturing.
The Midlands, the North West, South Yorkshire, the North East — these areas are built on making things. When manufacturing thrives, the local economy does too. Jobs, apprenticeships, supply chains, transport usage, housing demand and disposable income all rise together. When manufacturing weakens, the effects ripple instantly through local high streets, community services, and long-term social confidence — resulting in poor communities and elevated crime rates.
In the run-up to the Budget, industry leaders highlighted several measures needed to help businesses grow: raising the VAT threshold to support micro and early-stage manufacturers; further capital allowances; expanding grassroots engineering and vocational training; and providing targeted relief for energy-intensive SME manufacturers facing unprecedented cost pressures. Whether or not all of these concerns were fully addressed, the underlying need remains clear: without meaningful support, too many local firms risk being priced out of competitiveness — and once manufacturing capacity disappears, it rarely returns.
For Warrior Doors Managing Director Brett Barratt, these issues directly shape the communities his company serves every day.
“Manufacturing has always been the backbone of local prosperity in areas like Birmingham,” Barratt says. “When factories thrive, communities thrive. When communities thrive, the high street thrives. And when that happens, retailers can invest in creating safer, more welcoming environments. It’s all connected.”
Warrior Doors’ mission goes beyond producing LPS 1175 security rated steel doors. The company is increasingly recognised for its advanced security sliding doors, designed for high-risk, high-traffic retail environments. These products directly support the health and vibrancy of shopping districts by helping shops operate with confidence in areas where crime, theft, and organised attacks have become more common.
“When a jeweller or specialist retailer closes because they’ve been targeted repeatedly, the whole high street feels the impact,” Barratt explains. “Footfall drops. Empty units spread. A sense of insecurity grows. But when businesses feel protected and supported, they reinvest locally. That stability feeds into wider community wellbeing.”
A supportive industrial policy amplifies this effect. More secure, better-funded manufacturing businesses mean more skilled jobs and apprenticeships — giving young people pathways into engineering, design, fabrication and technical roles. Stronger regional supply chains reduce dependency on imports. Enhanced public transport, another key ask from industry leaders, improves both employment access and retail footfall.
In turn, safer, more prosperous communities create the conditions for long-term economic health. Better-lit, more vibrant high streets discourage antisocial behaviour. Thriving local businesses pay taxes, sponsor community schemes, and contribute to civic pride. Manufacturing and community safety become mutually reinforcing.
This virtuous cycle is exactly what Warrior Doors aims to strengthen. “Our mission has always been to protect people and property,” Barratt says. “What we’re really protecting is the fabric of local life — the businesses, jobs, and neighbourhoods that make places feel like communities.”
If the Government continues to back manufacturing with clarity and conviction in the months ahead, the rewards will extend far beyond factory gates. They will be seen in safer streets, stronger high streets, and the renewed confidence of communities built on making, doing and growing.
For more information, visit www.warriordoors.co.uk
