Steel contract

British Steel has secured a major new contract with Infrabel, Belgium’s national railway operator.The four-year agreement is for the maintenance and renewal of the Belgian rail network and will see British Steel supply between 35,000 and 40,000 tonnes of rail a year – more than 3000km of rail over the duration of the contract.Deliveries are scheduled to start in January 2019.The steel for the rails will be manufactured at British Steel’s headquarters in Scunthorpe, England, before being transported to the company’s rail rolling facility in Hayange, France.
For further information https://britishsteel.co.uk/

Ford Bridgend begins new engine build

Production has now begun of an all-new, fuel-efficient petrol engine at Ford’s Bridgend engine plant in Wales.The three-cylinder, 1.5-litre EcoBoost engine, which debuts in the Fiesta ST and all-new Focus, is built on a new, flexible manufacturing facility following of an investment of £100m, including support from the Welsh Government.Quality confirmation of the new engine is assured through multi-stage testing and process monitoring. Machining lines for the cylinder head and cylinder block feature the latest CNC technology and environmentally efficient cutting systems.
For further information www.ford.com

SPI buys site

UK-based fibre laser designer and manufacturer, SPI Lasers, has purchased its 8.1 acre Rugby-based manufacturing site from landlord, Kedaho Investments Ltd, in a deal worth £10.3m.The purchase will see SPI Lasers expand its manufacturing footprint in Rugby by approximately 100%, bringing its total usable space up to approximately 80,000 sq ft. Over the coming months the site will be the subject of a multi-million pound refurbishment with the express intention of utilising the additional space to accelerate SPI’s vertical integration programmes and further optimise manufacturing and production processes.
For further information www.spilasers.com

Official chain supplier to GB Cycling Team

When the Great Britain Cycling Team identified problems with the chain it had been using, Renold was contacted to see if a solution could be devised for track cycling. Renold’s history and a mutual relationship with the University of Bristol was the catalyst for the partnership forming.The chain developed is based on the same technology platform as Renold’s Synergy brand industrial transmission chain.

Detlef Ragnitz, engineering director at Renold, says: “Elite athletes make extreme demands on the chain. We looked at our technology portfolio to see what might be a good fit. Our synergy technology platform is very strong and durable, it has inherently low friction and gives us long life in industrial applications. In Industrial applications, greater efficiency means reduced carbon footprint. In cycling, it means more speed.”
For further information https://velo.renold.com/

Rebrand for machine shop

Norfolk-based CNC machining specialist Stokes & Rowe celebrated its 10th year in business this year, and as part of the company’s long-term investment and growth plans, has rebranded to become Accuturn, a CNC turning and milling specialist. So far in 2018, directors Nicola and Robert Stokes have invest in new CNC milling capability, gain ISO9001:2015 and ISO 14001:2015 standards, hire the company’s first mechanical engineering apprentice and now rebrand.As part of the growth strategy, Accuturn is expanding its capabilities with the addition of a Haas Super Mini Mill.
For further information https://accuturn.co.uk/