Supplementary Memorandum from the Motorsport
Industry Association (MIA)
During the oral evidence session (HC 173-i)—at
which Colin Hilton (Motor Sports Association), Andrew Manahan
(Lola Group), Mike Dickison (Coventry University) and Chris Aylett
(MIA) gave oral evidence—and in the dialogue which has followed,
it has become apparent that an MIA report, commissioned by the
Department of Trade & Industry (DTI) in 2002, is of relevance
to the inquiry.
This report, the "Motorsport Valley Cluster
Development Industry Commitment Project" is referred
to in Mr Aylett's response to Q158 from Mr Wright, and is supplied
as part of the supplementary material relating to this memorandum
(not printed here).
The "Motorsport Valley Cluster Development
Industry Commitment Project" was a detailed three-year development
plan for the high performance engineering and motorsport cluster
in the UK.
The DTI charged the MIA with approaching companies
within this cluster to seek their support for the plan and to
provide in-kind and cash contributions towards its implementation.
In producing the report, the MIA secured written
commitments of matching support from industry valued at over £10
million (of which over £1 million was in cash and the rest
in-kind). These details were passed—in full—to the
DTI and apparently never utilised or acknowledged.
It was immediately following this enormous gesture
of support from Industry that Patricia Hewitt called for the creation
of a Motorsport Competitiveness Panel, the recommendations of
which led to the formation of the questionable delivery mechanism
that was MDUK. The Industry's commitments were never called upon
to support the delivery of the Competitiveness Panel`s recommendations.
During the afore-mentioned oral evidence session
(HC 173-i), a letter from Brian Wilson was also referred to by
Mr Aylett in Q158, Mr Hilton in Q162, and Mr Clapham in Q166.
This letter, "Harnessing a World Class Industry Cluster
to Gain Competitive Advantage for the UK: Motorsport and Performance
Engineering", dated 22 January 2002, is supplied as part
of the Supplementary Material relating to this Memorandum (not
printed here).
The MIA submits the following supplementary
material alongside this memorandum (not printed here):
— Motorsport Valley Cluster Development
Industry Commitment Project—Final Report, MIA (March
2002).
— Harnessing a World Class Industry
Cluster to Gain Competitive Advantage for the UK: Motorsport and
Performance Engineering, a letter from Brian Wilson MP, Minister
of State for Energy and Industry (22 January 2002).
February 2010
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