Fluke has published survey findings showing that predictive maintenance adoption in UK manufacturing rose from 9% to 22%, while skills shortages now account for 77% of reported barriers to progress.

The data points to a broader shift in maintenance strategy as manufacturers move away from reactive models. Reactive maintenance fell from 42% to 26%, while proactive maintenance edged up from 48% to 50% among UK respondents.

Conducted by Censuswide, the survey covered more than 600 senior decision-makers and maintenance professionals across the US, the UK and Germany. The UK results suggest manufacturers are continuing to invest in digital tools even as confidence in rapid transformation weakens.

Nearly three-quarters of organisations said they now allocate 16% to 30% of maintenance budgets to new technologies. At the same time, investment priorities have shifted away from exploratory artificial intelligence projects towards areas more closely tied to day-to-day operations.

Generative AI drew interest from 38% of respondents, followed by cybersecurity at 37%, Industrial AI at 34% and data management at 32%. The findings suggest companies are prioritising projects with more direct applications in production and maintenance.

Workforce gap

Despite growth in spending and adoption, the survey suggests the main constraint is no longer access to funds. Instead, manufacturers face a shortage of people with the knowledge and experience needed to use the technology effectively.

Knowledge shortages made up 23% of reported barriers, broad workforce skills shortages 19%, lack of expertise 18% and skilled labour gaps 17%. Taken together, those issues made skills-related problems the dominant obstacle to progress.

The figures point to a mismatch between the pace of technology deployment and workforce readiness on factory floors and in maintenance teams. That tension is emerging as a central issue for manufacturers trying to turn digital investment into operational change.

Readiness outlook

The findings also show a more cautious view of Industry 5.0 timelines. The share of respondents expecting to reach that stage within six months fell from 31% to 20%, while 37% now expect it to take between one and four years.

That retreat in short-term expectations appears to be shaping where companies focus their efforts. Rather than pursuing broader transformation targets in the immediate term, many are concentrating on practical projects that can be introduced sooner.

Connected reliability was the clearest example of that approach. Some 45% of respondents said they plan to prioritise connected reliability initiatives over the next 12 months, suggesting companies see reliability programmes as a more immediate route to improving operations.

The results come as manufacturers face pressure to improve productivity, reduce downtime and justify technology spending with measurable outcomes. Maintenance functions have become an important testing ground for digital tools because failures and repairs are easier to track than broader organisational change.

Predictive maintenance has drawn attention because it promises earlier detection of equipment issues and less unplanned downtime than reactive approaches. The increase from 9% to 22% indicates wider adoption in the UK, though the survey suggests the model has not yet become the norm across the sector.

Proactive maintenance remains the largest single approach at 50%, showing that many manufacturers still favour scheduled and preventive work over fully predictive systems. The decline in reactive maintenance, however, points to a continued retreat from fix-on-failure models.

Parker Burke, President of Fluke, linked digital spending to the practical challenge of implementation. “Manufacturers are continuing to invest in digital technologies, but progress depends on how effectively those technologies are applied. Our findings show that reliability and workforce skills are now the critical factors in converting technology spend into measurable operational improvement. We need a solution to the skills shortage to supplement technology investment for the best results,” Burke said.

Vineet Thuvara, Chief Product Officer at Fluke, said the shift in maintenance strategy is becoming harder to ignore. “The progress is encouraging, but it’s not enough yet. Predictive maintenance is no longer a future ambition: it is the baseline. Manufacturers’ next challenge is scaling adoption and integrating it across the organisation, ensuring these capabilities work in harmony across the organisation, not in isolation,” Thuvara said.

JOSEPH GABRIEL LAGONSIN

News Editor

Apex Computing has won the Marketing Team of the Year award at the Network Group 2026 Gala and was also shortlisted in two other categories.

The Manchester-based IT services provider was recognised at an event celebrating managed service providers, IT resellers and retailers across the Network Group community.

The award followed a shift to a fully in-house marketing model in 2025. Apex said the team developed its own strategy and expanded its work across events, webinars, video, social media and lead generation.

It was also shortlisted for MSP of the Year in the over £2.5 million turnover category and for Technical Team of the Year, giving the business recognition across three areas of its operation.

In-house shift

The marketing award follows Apex’s decision to bring all marketing activity in-house. The move gave the company more direct control over brand messaging and customer engagement, it said.

The team also introduced marketing automation tools and placed greater emphasis on performance data in campaign planning. Internal engagement was another focus, with marketing staff working across departments to align campaigns with company culture.

Chris Gorman, chief executive officer of Apex, highlighted that wider support: “We are absolutely delighted to have received the Network Group 2026 Gala Marketing Team award. It feels like a just acknowledgment of all the incredible work carried out by the team this last year, as it has transitioned into the complete in-house management of all marketing efforts.

“I’m so proud of the way that the team, led by our amazing Marketing Manager, Rachael, has embraced its new responsibilities – and how well the rest of the Apex team have supported them. Marketing is often dismissed as of lesser value than many other business priorities. But the results driven by the Apex team this year show just how wrong that dismissal can be.”

Wider role

Daniel Shone, founder and managing director of Apex, said the team’s work had gone beyond campaign delivery.

“Rachael and the team have worked tirelessly this year, not only developing and executing campaigns but also sharing valuable insights that the whole Apex family have been able to learn from. Their work has helped strengthen our connection with customers and improve how we communicate our expertise.

“Over the last year, our focus has been on helping businesses across Greater Manchester and the wider North West better understand their IT, cyber security and digital transformation challenges, and feel more confident about the decisions they need to make. The marketing team has played a pivotal role in that effort.”

Apex provides IT business solutions in Manchester and serves organisations across Greater Manchester and the wider North West. Recognition in the marketing, managed services and technical categories suggests judges viewed the business as a strong performer across both customer-facing and operational functions.

For Apex, the result marks a notable point in a period of internal change as it seeks to sharpen how it presents its services and engages with clients in a competitive regional IT market. The additional shortlistings also suggest its progress has extended beyond marketing into wider operations.

The Tesco superstore in the Oxford Retail Park in Ambassador Avenue in Cowley was visited by Oxford City Council’s Environmental Health Team in February.

Inspectors stated that ‘improvement (was) necessary’ in the food hygiene rating of the stores.

This specifically focused on the cleanliness and condition of facilities and building.

This concerns having appropriate layout, ventilation, hand washing facilities and pest control to enable food hygiene.

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Meanwhile, the hygienic handling of food including preparation, cooking, re-heating, cooling and storage was only rated ‘generally satisfactory’.

Although, the management of food safety for the store was rated as ‘good’.

A Tesco megastore in East London was given a zero-star food hygiene rating three years ago after a customer reported seeing a rat on the premises.

The branch was ‘not found in clean condition and good repair’ and was found to have mouse activity, including droppings, in a warehouse.

A Tesco Spokesperson said: “We set ourselves the highest store standards and take hygiene extremely seriously,  with comprehensive cleaning and food safety processes in place across all of our stores.

“The majority of our stores have a hygiene rating of 5, the highest rating, and we have taken immediate action to address the recommendations made during the store inspection.”