Brian Potter

Senior Infrastructure Fellow at the Institute for Progress and author of the essay 'How the UK Lost Its Shipbuilding Industry', offering expertise on shipbuilding history and industrial policy.

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Dec 5, 2025 • 31min

How Britain Lost Its Shipbuilding Industry

Brian Potter, a Senior Infrastructure Fellow and author specializing in shipbuilding history, shares insights on Britain’s decline from global shipbuilding leader to near-oblivion. He explores historical advantages and productivity in the 19th century, highlighting how strong unions and rigid methods stifled modernization. The discussion touches on the impact of foreign competition, missed opportunities like containerization, and the late arrival of nationalization. Potter debates whether this decline was inevitable, offering stark lessons for today’s industrial strategies.

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