On The Road To Reshoring

Reshoring got top billing a couple of years ago when Prime Minister of the day David Cameron launched a government-backed reshoring initiative. This saw UK Trade & Investment and the Manufacturing Advisory Service (MAS) form ‘Reshore UK’ (https://is.gd/dizale). That was January 2014 and the initiative is no longer; just like MAS. Today we have ‘Growth Hubs’ and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs), but a search for ‘reshoring’ at the LEP network website (https://is.gd/zehipa) delivers no related returns. So it is left to small trade association ... Read more

Oil & Gas News, January 2017

Spending by US oil and gas companies is expected to rebound sharply this year as the industry responds quickly to the upturn in crude prices in recent months. While the overall recovery in the global oil and gas industry is still sluggish, capital spending in North America will rise 27% this year, according to Barclays, based on a survey of more than 200 companies. The projections suggest that the larger US exploration and production companies will raise spending on drilling and completing wells ... Read more

Aerospace & Defence News, January 2017

The Ministry of Defence has agreed a £410 million maintenance contract for the UK’s Atlas A400M aircraft, securing a key part of the RAF airlift fleet until 2026. The contract will sustain around 200 UK jobs with Airbus Defence and Space, focused around RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. An additional 200 jobs will be sustained at GKN, Messier Dowty, Rolls-Royce and Thales. The contract with Airbus will pay for maintenance, upgrade and repair of the UK’s entire fleet of Atlas transport planes ... Read more

Power Generation News, 2017

Swansea Bay tidal lagoon is set to go ahead after a government report recommended the technology plays a role in the UK’s energy mix.  The review, led by former energy minister Charles Hendry, comes over a year after plans for the Swansea demonstrator project were put on hold. It advocates the formation of a new Tidal Power Authority to oversee the tender process for large-scale tidal lagoons and maximise the benefit to the UK. Hendry also recommends that a pathfinder project ... Read more

Automotive News, January 2017

A new report says Britain’s automotive industry looks set to continue its growth thanks to increased demand abroad and the development of cutting edge tech.  The report highlights increased demand for UK exports as well as the development of cutting edge technologies that are being demanded by manufacturers and consumers across the world. Despite the UK being the 13th largest automotive manufacturer in the world, it exports a larger proportion of automotive output than countries such as India, Brazil and France according ... Read more

Oil & Gas News, Late November 2016

National Grid investment means Swindon plasma recycling plant will go ahead by early 2018.  National Grid’s Gas Distribution company has signed a £6.3 million deal to help fund the “world’s first” commercially operating bio-substitute natural gas plant in Swindon, which will make gas from household waste. The deal completes financing for the project, which is being run by Go Green Gas and enables construction of the £25 million plant to start. In the plant, waste and biomass is shredded and dried and “recyclates” such ... Read more

Defence & Aerospace news, Late November 2016

A consortium comprising the world’s leader in aircraft landing gear, a leading specialist metals producer and two of the UK’s leading universities is working on FASTForge, a project aimed at the production of aerospace-grade titanium at a third of the current price. The partners working on the FASTForge project include Safran Landing Systems (formerly Messier-Bugatti-Dowty); Metalvsis; the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), and the University of Sheffield. Through FASTForge, the consortium is aiming to produce novel titanium alloy aerospace components ... Read more

Power Generation News, Late November 2016

A new wind farm that is capable of powering more than 40,000 homes has officially opened in South Ayrshire. Dersalloch wind farm, located on Dersalloch Hill, between Straiton and Dalmellington, has 23 turbines with a capacity of 69MW of electricity. It is first of eight onshore wind farm projects, worth more than £650m, being delivered by Scottish Power Renewables. They will have a combined total of 221 turbines, capable of generating almost 500MW – enough to power 130,000 homes. ____________________ Pennon Group has decided ... Read more

Automotive News, Late November 2016

Four of Europe’s largest carmakers have joined forces to roll out a charging network for electric cars in an attempt to boost sales of battery-powered vehicles and help avoid missing CO2 targets that would leave them facing billions of euros in fines. Volkswagen, Daimler, BMW and Ford said they would build 400 charging stations starting next year, with an ambition of having “thousands” available to electric car customers across Europe by the end of the decade before new CO2 rules come into ... Read more

European Automotive Technology Roadshow, March 2017

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