Chris Aylett

Tomorrow’s world

The uncertain world has led to opportunities for suppliers to our sport

As we enter a new year, the future for the business of motorsport is bright, covid is well behind us and revenues have grown every year since. The 2023 season looks set to deliver more growth but needs hard work to overcome supply and recruitment problems.

This positive picture became obvious at the MIA’s new CTS22 Motorsport Trade Show, in the Silverstone Wing, a sell-out which demonstrated the health of the industry. Highcalibre technology-based business leaders were amongst the large audience. MIA CTS23 in October this year at Silverstone again has already sold 70% of space, so more space will be made available. Don’t miss the chance to exhibit and capture a share of this growth.

Opportunity knocks

Major race series are prime influencers which bring large audiences and sponsors to our sport. Their popularity resonates across all levels of motorsport which is where the real volume of new business lies. Just as the World Cup encourages people to play football, Formula One does the same in motorsport increasing demand across the entire sector.

This popularity also helps businesses who constantly need new engineering talent. Seeing motorsport on TV and social media triggers interest in engineering generally and encourages young people to enrol for motorsport engineering degrees. MIA’s popular School of Race Engineering has seen a rise in interest from females who look positively on the clean, high-tech working environment and exciting competition.

Almost every engineering sector is resolving supply issues which will be with us for quite a while. However, engineers in motorsport know how to overcome problems of design, performance, and materials fast. Companies are using these problem-solving skills to resolve supply issues. Having seen that pressurising and criticising a supplier fails to secure supply, most changed course. They now personally visit, meet or speak with each supplier to better understand the problems. The supplier, being keen to keep the business, appreciates this collaborative approach as they need help and good ideas.

Jointly, they uncover various solutions - for example, accepting different packaging, altering delivery methods, accepting smaller, more regular quantities. It can also identify a supplier who will never have the capacity to deliver the volumes needed so a new supplier can be sourced. This new relationship between customer and supplier is creating a stronger and more responsive supply chain than before.

For the last three years, demand for all motorsport products has remained high which will be true for the rest of this decade. The change in ownership of Formula One has, at long last, brought mass entertainment into the mix alongside competitive, on-track highperformance engineering battles. This has opened up a new world of sponsorship for Formula One teams where brands from many sectors now fight for attention from the increasing millions of ‘eyeballs’ - the vital measure of most sponsorship.

The whole commercial side of motorsport will increasingly benefit – touring cars, single seaters and even heritage. Just look at the audience numbers – 420,000 at the British GP, 200,000 for Goodwood Festival of Speed and the BTCC has already secured full grids for 2023.

The current financial downturn may mean teams require four main sponsors instead of three, but even this is good for the future as the sponsorship pool will grow.

The MIA’s ever popular EEMs Conference and Showcase event on 21 March at Gaydon this year, will have ‘Tomorrow’s World of Motorsport’ as its theme. Leading technologists will discuss the many business opportunities that a future of sustainable motorsport will create. This period will be a real bonanza for innovative, creative engineering businesses, who can learn more of these opportunities for growth at this MIA ‘must-attend’ conference.

World leaders

Outstanding technology and world-class engineering talent is the internationally recognised hallmark of companies in Motorsport Valley UK. This unrivalled business cluster is home to over 3,000 specialist companies in competitive engineering. Their customer base is world-wide – every car in Formula One, Le Mans, NASCAR and IndyCar and many others, rely on supplies from this specialist community, as do most road and rally series around the world. Constant improvement in manufacture, design, material and delivery has driven this business community to success as has an outstanding R&D spend. Some 30 percent of revenues is spent on R&D, ten times that of automotive, and double that of pharmaceutical. The Government’s commitment to a sustainable future for transport will further increase R&D activities. The variety of solutions will give The increased popularity of F1 recently has filtered through to engineering courses, an exciting boost to challenges which have seen a large uptick in interest particularly from female engineers in motorsport competition. This is the start of an exciting period in motorsport engineering which offers a unique opportunity for growth. You will need to update and add to your network of contacts to maximise your success. It’s the right time for you to look into becoming a member of the MIA and gain access to our proven and substantial business networks. As a member the cost of attending the events mentioned is reduced and we pro-actively help you meet business leaders. The MIA exists to help members in whatever way we can, so to find out more please email me at info@the-mia.com. I wish you a happy and prosperous New Year, and good luck.

Almost every engineering sector is resolving supply issues which will be with us for quite a while