Where the coaching starts
Owners of engineering and manufacturing firms usually know production well. The coaching works on the parts that sit around it: margin by job and customer, cash tied up in stock and work in progress, the supervisors who run the floor, and the plan for the business when the owner steps back.
Margin by job and by customer.
Quoting from a standard rate hides which jobs and customers make money. The first sessions work out true margin on recent jobs, counting machine time, labour, materials, scrap and the owner’s own hours.
Cash in stock and work in progress.
Raw materials, part-finished jobs and slow payers hold cash that the business has already spent. Financial Coaching with Peter Allen builds a thirteen-week cash view so the pressure is visible early.
Supervisors who can run the floor.
When production problems all go to the owner, the owner cannot step away. Leadership Coaching works on the supervisors and managers who make decisions without the owner on the floor.
Figures and rules for manufacturing owners
Each figure links to its source, checked on 6 November 2026.
Manufacturing is 4.6% of UK businesses.
ONS counted 2,786,985 VAT or PAYE registered businesses in the UK in March 2026, of which about 128,000 were in manufacturing. ONS, 24 September 2026. In Northern Ireland, NISRA counted 930 fabricated metal product businesses and 305 machinery and equipment makers (NISRA, June 2026).
Machinery purchases can be written off in the year.
The Annual Investment Allowance is £1 million (GOV.UK). Companies can also claim full expensing, a 100% first-year allowance on main rate plant and machinery, which the government has made permanent (HMRC). The coaching question is whether the machine earns its keep, and the allowance only changes when the tax is paid.
Wage costs rise again in April 2027.
The National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over is £12.71 an hour from April 2026, and the announced rate from April 2027 is £13.21 (GOV.UK). Employer National Insurance is 15% above £5,000 a year, with an Employment Allowance of £10,500 (GOV.UK, rates and thresholds for employers 2026 to 2027).
Orders and output have slowed.
Make UK’s Manufacturing Outlook for the third quarter of 2026 reported an output balance of +10%, down from +26% in the second quarter, and an employment balance of +3%. It also said that the balances for price inflation remain concerningly high (Make UK, 14 September 2026).
Selling the business costs more tax from April 2026.
Business Asset Disposal Relief is 18% on qualifying gains from 6 April 2026, up from 14% (GOV.UK). Budget 2026 announced a cut in the lifetime limit from £1 million to £500,000 for disposals from 6 April 2027, which is not yet law (HMRC, 29 October 2026).
How the coaching runs
Coaching is one-to-one, fortnightly and ninety minutes at a time, by video or in person by appointment at the offices in East Finchley, Salford and Ballymena. It uses one method, Performance on Purpose, across four areas: personal, leadership, business and financial. Financial Coaching is delivered with Buzz Accounting. Every programme and its monthly fee is on the programmes page, and the Performance on Purpose scorecard shows where you sit before the free discovery call.
Frequently asked questions
Can coaching help me price jobs better?
Yes, and it is usually the first piece of work. The sessions take ten or twenty recent jobs and work out what each one actually cost: machine hours at a rate that recovers the overheads, labour, materials, scrap, rework and the hours you spent on it yourself. The difference between the quoted margin and the real one is often large on a few jobs and customers. From there the coaching looks at the quoting method, the minimum order or set-up charge, and which customers to grow, reprice or let go. Financial Coaching with Peter Allen covers the overhead recovery rate and the numbers.
I want to step back from the business in a few years. Where do I start?
With the jobs only you can do today. That list often includes quoting, solving production problems, holding the main customer relationships and approving spending. Each item needs a person, a process or both before you can step back, and the coaching works through them over twelve to thirty-six months. Strategic Growth Coaching covers the plan for a sale, a management buyout or a family handover. Tax on a sale is a matter for your accountant: the rate of Business Asset Disposal Relief went up in April 2026, and a lower lifetime limit has been announced from April 2027.
Who does the coaching work with?
The owner and, where it helps, the managers, by video or in person at the offices in Salford, East Finchley and Ballymena. If the problem turns out to be a process or layout question, the coach says so and points you to a production engineer or lean specialist. The work is on the decisions the owner makes: pricing, investment in machines and people, which customers to grow, and how the management team is built. Each session re-scores the same measures, so you can see whether the business is moving.
Book a free discovery call for your manufacturing business.
The call with Andy Jackson is free and lasts 30 minutes. You leave with your position on the Performance on Purpose quadrant, your money, time and mind scores, and your top three priorities in writing.