In brief

• Exports of machine tools from the UK in the first half of 2003 amounted to £182.2m - 0.3% more than in the same period last year. According the Manufacturing Technologies Association, imports were similarly static, amounting to £217.2m, or 0.2% on 2002. The first-half trade deficit was therefore £35m.

• Phoenix Contact has moved its UK operation from Berkshire to Telford, close to the heart of UK manufacturing. The new site has facilities for meetings, training courses and a permanent exhibition area. The telephone number is 01952 681 700.

• Rexroth has created a new business unit which unites all of its service activities across all of its technologies. The Service Automation business will provide customers with a single point of contact for the company`s electric drives and controls, linear motion and assembly, hydraulics, and pneumatics technologies. The new business will provide not only service support, but will also commission installations, run training programmes, and provide upgrades and retrofits. It will even get involved in the development of new products, by feeding back its field experience to the R&D teams.

• Schneider Electric is setting up a business in Leeds to produce British Standard medium-voltage switchgear, liquid-filled distribution transformers, and packaged outdoor substations for the global market. The business, at Schneider`s existing Jack Lane site, will create 30 jobs..