ROUND-UP JANUARY 2019
In Brief
Business
Siemens opens AM factory
Siemens has opened a new,
£27m factory in Worcester,
the largest in Britain focusing
on additive manufacturing
(AM) techniques. The new
Materials Solutions factory,
Siemens’ 15th site in the UK, will
become a pioneer in Selective
Laser Melting technology for
the manufacture of highperformance
metal parts for
gas turbines and jet engines.
Siemens
Job creation optimism
Firms are on track to create
more jobs, adding to the
UK’s record labour market
performance, according to the
latest CBI/Pertemps Network
Group Employment Trends
Survey. The annual survey – now
in its 21st year – revealed that
45% of UK businesses expect to
grow their workforce in the year
ahead. However, optimism about
adding new jobs is at its weakest
among larger businesses more
exposed to Brexit uncertainty.
Brandauer scoops award
SME metal pressings
firm, Brandauer, beat the
competition to be named joint
winners of the ‘Innovation
in Manufacturing’ title at the
West Midlands Tech Awards,
sharing the accolade with
JLR. Judges pointed to the
Birmingham-based company’s
investment in bringing its own
product to market for the first
time in over 100 years.
Two NE firms in
£500m Metro bid
Two North Eastern
engineering
companies have
formed a partnership
to bid for a £500
million contract to
build new trains and a
depot for the Tyne and
Wear Metro.
From 2022, the
existing Metro fleet
will be replaced with
brand-new high-tech
trains, which will be
maintained at a new
site at Gosforth, near
Newcastle.
Hitachi has invested
over £100 million in its
train factory in Newton
Aycliffe, Co. Durham,
supporting thousands
of jobs in the North
East. As well as creating
over 700 permanent
jobs at the factory,
Hitachi uses a British
supply chain for train
parts. The train-builder
has spent nearly £630
million with UK
suppliers, with 70% of
parts fitted onto the
trains sourced from
within 40 miles of
the factory.
Engineering
specialist Spencer
Group employs 300
people in the North,
including at its
headquarters in Hull.
The two firms have
teamed up previously,
when Spencer Group
successfully upgraded
existing East Coast
mainline rail depots
ready for Hitachi’s new
intercity trains.
Hitachi is building
the pioneering new
intercity trains which
will soon connect
Newcastle to London,
Scotland, Manchester
and Liverpool.
People
Juergen Maier, managing
director of Siemens UK, has
been awarded a CBE in the
Queen’s New Years Honours
list. Other figures from the
world of manufacturing who
were also recognised include
Susan Scurlock, founder
of Primary Engineer, who
becomes an MBE.
Investment
Submarine jobs secured
A £400m funding boost for
the Dreadnought submarine
programme, announced by
Defence Secretary, Gavin
Williamson, has secured over
800 jobs at BAE Systems’
factory in Barrow. The news
came at the opening of BAE’s
new, £25m academy, which
will upskill employees to work
on Royal Navy submarines for
the next 20 years.
Universities have been
urged to ‘cast the net much
wider’ to include vocational
learners rather than just
prioritising academic pupils,
on the back of a new survey
showing companies are giving
greater priority to investing in
apprenticeship programmes
than recruiting graduates.
East Midlands investment
Four sites across the East
Midlands will receive a
combined £500,000 as part
of the government’s Midlands
Engine scheme, Communities
Secretary James Brokenshire
has announced. The grant
builds on the region’s strength
in space, food and advanced
manufacturing, at Space Park
Leicester, Melton Mowbray
and North Derbyshire.
Hot topic
Only 6% of ‘Generation Z’ (those
born in the mid-1990s to the early-
2000s) would consider a career
in manufacturing, according to a
new survey conducted by Barclays
Technology & Innovation
Robots for Airbus wings
Following a collaboration
with the AMRC’s Integrated
Manufacturing Group, entire
aircraft wing assemblies
could soon be transported
by autonomous robots at the
Airbus factory in Broughton,
North Wales. The project
began as a trial into using
robots to deliver tools, but
has been scaled up as the
benefits became apparent.
Qioptiq secures MoD deal
A Welsh photonics supplier
is celebrating after being
awarded an £82m contract
with the Ministry of Defence.
Qioptiq, based in Rhyl, will
supply a range of night vision
equipment to the UK armed
forces. The deal, which is
also predicted to save the
MoD around £47m, has led
to Qioptiq opening a new
warehouse in North Wales.
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