The annual closure of factories across Britain always arouses some interesting debate.

Do we all need the break, is it good for strategy planning… or is it an anachronism past its sell-by date?

Bearing in mind the latest manufacturing figures, maybe the timing this year has been a good thing.

A burst of energy in the three months leading up to July dragged us back into a positive figure – but well below what we needed and the headlines were all about bad news and how the smiling service sector was overshadowing gloomy manufacturing.

So maybe we should call a time-out. Take a deep breath, refocus, re-energise and crank up the country’s production lines to grab back the headlines and reclaim our place at the controls of the manufacturing powerhouse.

It’s a marathon, not a sprint, but this isn’t the Commonwealth Games. We’re not working hard month after month for one medal ceremony.

Our companies have their final dash for the line every day. They reach their performance peak and then have to do it again the next day. And again. And again.

It’s been a frenetic time – an exhausting and demanding responsibility for tens of thousands of workers.

So my advice would be: take that time out, use it wisely and then be prepared to rewrite the headlines when you’re back on the factory floor.