EEF split follows London's demand for control

Published on Wednesday 2 September 2009 21:05

PETER Hughes, chief executive of Scottish Engineering, has for the first time revealed details of an acrimonious split with its London-based counterpart.

Scottish Engineering is now a stand-alone organisation after deciding to sever its ties with the EEF, formerly the Engineering Employers Federation, that go back to 1896.

As a result, the EEF can no longer speak for Scotland or Northern Ireland, which has also opted to go it alone.

The Scottish and Northern Irish associations will now undertake all lobbying of Westminster and Brussels as well as their domestic governments. Hughes said the relationship had become increasingly untenable as the EEF, under new chief executive Gilbert Toppin, demanded control over all the UK associations which represent thousands of manufacturers throughout the UK. Lawyers have been battling over areas of dispute for some time but failure to settle their differences led to a decision to break-up the historic bond.

"Over the last three years difficulties have arisen over a number of issues," said Hughes. The EEF wanted to merge all the UK associations into one organisation run from London and badged as the EEF, he said. It would have absorbed Scottish Engineering's assets and run its marketing operations.

A final straw appears to be an attempt to replace the Scottish quarterly survey of manufacturing trends with a UK-wide poll. The latest is due to be published this week. Hughes claimed that Scottish companies had refused to co-operate with the EEF when it attempted to canvass their opinion.

"The new CEO didn't want us to produce our own data. But it is our flagship programme and there is no way we are giving it up," said Hughes. "I was not prepared to have London telling us what to say and how to say it."

He said Toppin wanted a more commercially-run body whereas Scottish Engineering, though financially strong, has clung to its not-for-profit status.

He explained that questions were also being asked about the value of being linked to the EEF in which it was a founder member. Scottish Engineering, which can trace its own roots back to the shipyard owners in 1865, represents big-name companies such as ScottishPower and Babcock among 400 firms employing 100,000 people.

A spokesman for the EEF said Scotland and Northern Ireland had been operating with some autonomy for some time. "They chose for a number of reasons to become stand alone bodies."

He questioned whether Toppin wanted the EEF to be commercially-run but admitted that the organisation "had to adapt to commercial pressures".

However, that did not alter its emphasis on representing manufacturers.