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28 March, 2024

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Mach exhibition is postponed from January 2021 to 2022

29 September, 2020

Mach, the UK’s largest manufacturing trade event, which had been due to take place at the NEC Birmingham in January 2021, has been rescheduled to April 2022. The Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), which owns and runs the Mach exhibition on behalf of the industry, asked companies that had booked to exhibit in January whether they wanted to go ahead with the show, or postpone it to 2022. 


UK robot sales fell by 16% in 2019, but its base grew by 5%

25 September, 2020

Sales of industrial robots in the UK fell by 16% last year compared to 2018, with around 2,000 machines being shipped. The total number of robots in use in the country grew by 5% to 21,700. These figures come from the World Robotics 2020 Industrial Robots report just published by the International Federation of Robotics (IFR).


UK industry cuts spending with no sign of V-shaped recovery

21 September, 2020

Britain’s manufacturers have slashed investment in a battle to stay afloat, despite improvements in output and orders, according to a survey by the manufacturers’ organisation, Make UK, and business advisory firm BDO.


£300m programme aims to transform UK manufacturing

14 September, 2020

The UK Government is investing £147m in the Manufacturing Made Smarter programme over the coming five years with the aim of boosting productivity by 30%, accelerating the move to net-zero emissions, creating thousands of skilled jobs, and reshaping the future of manufacturing. The government is hoping that a similar investment by industry will achieve a total expenditure of around £300m.


Government injects £65m into robots, batteries and health

11 September, 2020

The UK government has announced a £65m cash boost for three key technologies that could transform people’s lives – robots, high-tech batteries and advanced healthcare treatments. The funding will come from its Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, managed by UK Research & Innovation (UKRI).


Despite 19% US spurt, EU still takes 46% of UK's goods exports

10 September, 2020

The US was the biggest single export market for UK manufacturers in 2019 – with sales expanding by 19% to reach £54.4bn – but almost half of the UK’s exports (46%) went to Europe, with the top six EU markets accounting for around a third of total exports, worth £169bn. The figures come from UK Manufacturing Facts, 2020/21, just published by the manufacturers’ organisation Make UK and Santander UK.


UK manufacturers call for job support to be extended

07 September, 2020

Britain’s manufacturers are calling on the Government to extend its Job Retention Scheme (JRS) or risk losing key skills that will leave the UK in the slow lane behind its major competitors as industries recover from the pandemic.


CP Automation acquires Magnetek’s UK elevator business

03 September, 2020

Scunthorpe-based CP Automation has acquired Bedford-based Magnetek Elevator UK, which supplies AC and DC drives for geared and gearless lift applications. CP says that the deal will establish it as a leading supplier of drives to the vertical transportation industry. 


UK EV motor-maker expands, creating up to 250 jobs

02 September, 2020

A UK company that manufactures lightweight axial-flux motors for electric vehicles, is expanding its production facilities, creating 150-250 jobs over the next three to five years. Saietta’s plant, at Upper Heyford near Bicester in Oxfordshire, will be powered by solar panels and will be funded by a new investment round.


UK manufacturing output rises at fastest pace since 2014

01 September, 2020

During August, UK manufacturing output expanded at its fastest rate for more than six years, as manufacturers and their customers restarted operations following Covid-19 lockdowns, according to the latest monthly IHS Markit/CIPS PMI (Purchasing Managers’ Index). New order intakes strengthened, but the sector also recorded its seventh month of job losses, with employment declining at one of the steepest rates for 11 years.


Routeco reshapes, and signs up Yamaha and Honeywell

26 August, 2020

The automation and controls distributor Routeco has restructured its branch network to create four customer service centres in Manchester, Leeds, Bristol and Milton Keynes. It says it has been planning the changes for 18 months and they are not a response to the Covid-19 pandemic. It adds that it has retained some of its staff in a “remote working capacity” and has thus “minimised several redundancies”.


Rochdale advanced machinery institute wins £50k funding

13 August, 2020

Plans to create an Advanced Machinery and Productivity Institute (AMPI) in Rochdale, Greater Manchester, have been brought a step closer after securing £50,000 early-stage funding from the UK Research and Innovation’s (UKRI) Strength in Places Fund (SIPF). The aim of the institute is to drive innovation among advanced machinery manufacturers, and it is predicted to generate around 660 direct and 530 indirect jobs.


UK’s SME manufacturers report record falls in output

04 August, 2020

In the three months to July, output volumes from SME manufacturers in the UK fell at the fastest rate on record, according to the Confederation of British Industry’s latest quarterly SME Trends Survey. The survey of 331 SME manufacturers found that new orders – both domestic and export – also declined at the quickest pace since the CBI started the surveys in October 1988.


UK manufacturing output hit a 32-month high in July

03 August, 2020

Output from the UK manufacturing sector hit a 32-month high during July, supported by the sharpest rise in new order volumes since the end of 2018, according to the latest IHS Markit/CIPS Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). Business sentiment also recovered to its highest level in 28 months.


Foresight Williams doubles investment in UK cobot start-up

28 July, 2020

The Foresight Williams Technology EIS fund is investing a further £1.45m in the UK collaborative robotics start-up Inovo Robotics to accelerate its growth and help it expand internationally. The fund initially invested £1.5m in Inovo in 2018 to help get its first product to market.


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