UK: Factories to emulate.

The winners of the Management Today/Cranfield School of Management Best Factory Awards provide ample evidence that Britain's manufacturers are once again a force to be reckoned with.

With a strong pound and recession-bound continental European economies redoubling the pressure on British factories, the effectiveness of British manufacturing industry matters as rarely before. Once dogged by a reputation for shoddy quality and confrontational industrial relations, British factory floors now regularly host the sort of admiring tours that were formerly the sole province of Japanese factories. As the winners of this year's Management Today/Cranfield School of Management Best Factory Awards make clear, these days it is British factories that amply repay careful study.