RE: Britain has lost the ability to build great things, we've just stopped celebrating the companies that quietly do....

As critical parts of the UK's industrial economy shut down (ie steel making) and energy costs skyrocket it will become harder for even great legacy companies like Rolls Royce to compete.

My in-laws own one of the last manufacturing enterprises in London.
The industrial estate where the factory is located was once a hub of industry where you could get any part you needed close by.

No longer.

Now the industrial estate is being converted to housing (its on a nice canal) and the land is worth far more than the business.