11,000 visit GrindingHub

Around 11,000 visitors, 462 exhibitors and four days of a trade fair filled with technology, networking and business opportunities: GrindingHub 2026 successfully concluded earlier this month in Stuttgart.Visitors travelled from 59 countries, with Switzerland, Italy, France, Austria and Turkey particularly well represented. With 38% of visitors coming from abroad, GrindingHub once again underlined its position as a key international meeting place for the grinding technology community. While the biennial GrindingHub is set to return in 2028, the inaugural GrindingHub Americas will take place in Cincinnati, Ohio on 18-20 May 2027.

More information www.grindinghub.de/en

Express Engineering wins King’s Award

Express Engineering Group, a global specialist in the manufacture, assembly and testing of precision-engineered solutions, has been awarded a King’s Award for Enterprise.The group, which comprises Express Engineering in Gateshead and QA Weld Tech in Middlesbrough, has been recognised in the International Trade category for its “outstanding short-term growth”.

The honour follows a period of record-breaking performance in which the 330-employee business grew its overseas sales by more than 91% between 2022 and 2024, generating £78m in export sales over that period. This achievement solidifies the group’s status as one of the northeast’s largest and most successful exporters, delivering safety-critical components to major offshore energy and infrastructure projects across the globe.

More information www.express-engineering.co.uk

Steelwork Rises for Enormous Forging Line

Sheffield Forgemasters has begun steelwork assembly on the UK’s largest open die forging line. The company is building a new 13,000-tonne forging line at Brightside Lane, with steelwork for the building projecting to 45 m high, more than 10 m taller than surrounding structures. With steelwork for its new 30,000 m²machine shop on nearby Weedon Street at an advanced stage, the construction is transforming the traditional manufacturing heartland of the city, dwarfing the adjacent Meadowhall shopping centre and Ikea superstore. The company expects to see framework for both buildings completed by the end of 2026.

More information www.sheffieldforgemasters.com

Brother expands tech centre near Frankfurt

Whitehouse Machine Tools, the exclusive sales agent in the UK and Ireland for machine tools from Brother, is reporting a major expansion of its principal’s technology centre in Bad Homburg, near Frankfurt. The facility has been relocated to a new 1700 m² premises on Steinmühlstrasse, about 2.5 times the size of the original site, which is large enough to accommodate nearly the entire range of Brother’s Speedio machining centres.

The strategically located facility represents a significant expansion of Brother’s European presence, providing an accessible hub for technical excellence and dealer collaboration, 25 minutes from Frankfurt Airport. The centre is designed to enhance sales, technical knowledge transfer and training, while showcasing a comprehensive lineup of the manufacturer’s latest 30-taper machines. 

More information www.wmtcnc.com

Starrag UK appoints new sales manager

Starrag UK has appointed Ian Morton as its new sales manager, with responsibility for the company’s full machine tool portfolio across the UK and Ireland in all sectors outside aerospace. He succeeds Paul Zajac, who has retired after 50 years in the industry.Reporting into the Starrag UK leadership team and working alongside aerospace lead Simon Dutton, Morton’s remit covers the Starraggroup’s full premium brand lineup, spanning the compact Bumotec brand through SIP, Starrag and Heckert to the larger Dörries and Droop+Rein ranges.

More information www.starrag.com