SEPTEMBER 2020 ROUND-UP
Did you hear... The best soundbites from around the industry
“From a standing start, this is a fantastic achievement and is thanks to the
resilience and flexibility of the entire team, who have adapted to new challenges.”
Ross Nagle, COO of rolling stock UK at Hitachi Rail, reflects on five years of train
manufacturing at the company’s Newton Aycliffe factory, which now employs 700 people.
“We know we’ve got a sustainable and commercially based fabric, so if other
countries can make it work, we don’t know why we can’t make it work here.”
Paul Daynes of fabric-maker Toray tells the FT that the government has overlooked
UK-based PPE suppliers in favour of cheaper, but poorer quality ones from overseas.
Planning granted
for vaccine factory
Planning permission
has been granted for
the specialist facility
near Oxford that will
house the Vaccines
Manufacturing and
Innovation Centre
(VMIC).
VMIC, based at
Harwell Campus in
Oxfordshire, will
provide the country’s
first bespoke strategic
vaccine R&D and
manufacturing
capability. Because of
the critical nature of the
facility and the role it
will play in developring
vaccines for COVID-19
and beyond, the district
council has allowed
construction of the
facility to begin whilst
simultaneously
processing the planning
application. Under
normal circumstances,
planning approval and
construction for a new
development of this
scale would take years,
with construction
beginning only when
planning permission
had been granted.
“This decision by the
council gained us three
critical months in our
race to build a
pandemic-capable
vaccine manufacturing
facility, during which
time we were able to
go from a grasscovered
site to
completion of the
superstructure,” said Dr
Matthew Duchars, CEO
of the centre.
Pic of the month Volta
Start-up electric vehicle manufacturer, Volta Trucks, has revealed the new Volta Zero, its first
vehicle and the world’s first purpose-built full-electric 16-tonne commercial vehicle. Designed
specifically for inner-city parcel and freight distribution, production of the Volta Zero is due
to start in 2022. The Volta Zero will be the first road vehicle to use a sustainably sourced
natural Flax material and biodegradable resin in the construction of exterior body panels, with
the cab’s dark body panels and many interior trims constructed from the natural material.
Manufacture will take place under contract at yet-to-be-announced factories across the UK.
The company has called upon Banbury-based motorsport experts Prodrive for its prototyping
and initial development. Volta CEO, Rob Fowler told MM that basing production in the UK was
crucial, even despite ongoing Brexit uncertainties. “British automotive manufacturing is the
best in the world, and we want to be close to that talent,” he said.
Calls to extend furlough for critical sectors
Make UK has called for the
Job Retention Scheme to be
extended for critical industrial
sectors. Not doing so, it warns,
risks the loss of key skills, leaving
the UK “in the slow lane” behind
other major economies in
recovering from the pandemic.
The call was made on
the back of Make UK’s latest
Manufacturing Monitor tracking
survey, which shows strong
support for the measure from
industry with over 62% of
companies either agreeing
or strongly agreeing with the
proposal. Just under 14% of
companies surveyed disagreed
with the proposal.
Almost a quarter of
companies (22.8%) said they
disagreed with the government’s
decision to end the Scheme
and that it should be extended
to critical sectors, while 17%
said it should be extended
to any business. A further
quarter (25.9%) said it should
be continued should there be
further lockdowns or a second
wave while 17.9% said the
scheme should end but another
support scheme should be
put in its place.
“The protection of key
skills should be a strategic
national priority as this will
be the first building block
in getting the economy up
and running,” said Make
UK CEO, Stephen Phipson.
“Ensuring that those sectors
which are at the forefront
of technology and will
provide the growth sectors
and high-skilled jobs in
recovery should receive the
greatest support possible.”
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