In my last company the labour cost / kg was the lowest in EMEA in Serbia. But second by a long way was our factory in N Wales. Was this driven by automation. No it wasn't we had the lowest level of investment & the lowest labour cost. Britain in a lot of manufacturing roles is a low cost area.
But companies close sites as the short term closure costs are far lower than the rest of the EU. You easily hit your 2-3 year payback. Our site in Wales only stayed open due to the logistics costs of moving dangerous chemicals.
