EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Jobs secured as Clarity Group purchases NDB

More than 60 jobs in the Black Country and southwest have been safeguarded following the purchase of a critical supplier to the nuclear and defence sector. The rapidly expanding Clarity Group has purchased NDB Engineering and sister company Cofast from administrators in a deal that will provide security and fresh investment for robotics and a host of productivity improvements.

The business will trade as Cofast going forward and is setting its sights on leveraging new financial backing to attack multi-million-pound opportunities in decommissioning and big domestic naval projects. There is also significant potential to take its technical expertise and precision engineering performance into the aerospace supply chain, a market that demands safety-critical products.

More information www.cofast.co.uk

PP C&A signals £100m global expansion

Global expansion is on the agenda for a UK manufacturing outsourcing specialist after it revealed plans for a major acquisition drive. PP Control & Automation, which works with over 20 of the world’s leading machinery builders, is heading towards a record sales revenue of £40m in 2026, with the longer-term aim of hitting £100m within four years.

Growth will be achieved both through organic opportunities in clean energy, defence and life sciences, and the potential purchasing of complementary manufacturing companies in Europe, the US and Asia. The M&A activity will be led by new CEO Pinaki Banerjee, with discussions already taking place with targets in Italy, Eastern Europe, India and the US. PP C&A employs over 200 people at its state-of-the-art facility in the West Midlands.

More information www.ppcanda.com

Manufacturing optimism at 17-month high

The seasonally adjusted S&P Global UK Manufacturing Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) rose to a 17-month high of 51.8 in January, up from 50.6 in December. The PMI has now signalled growth for three consecutive months. Three of the five PMI components were at levels indicating an improvement in overall operating conditions (new orders, output and supplier delivery times). January also saw production rise for the fourth consecutive month and at the joint-quickest pace since September 2024. Higher output was linked to improved export sales, a generally stable domestic market and a boost from customer restocking.

More information www.pmi.spglobal.com

Positive year for subcontract market

The UK subcontract manufacturing market had a positive year in 2025, up 47% on 2024, according to the latest Contract Manufacturing Index (CMI) figures. The automotive industry was the largest customer and accounted for nearly a third of the market. It proved a strong contributor to the health of the subcontract sector despite the effects of the JLR cyber-attack.

Qimtek owner Karl Wigart says: “It’s quite clear that 2025 was a better year overall than 2024. Activity by buyers has been steady and we broke the record for the number of parts quoted – just under 20 million components for the year. However, we feel suppliers remain cautious. They were badly affected by the uncertainty of the late budget and the shutdown of JLR. Suppliers are proving fussy on which jobs they are quoting for and careful with how they are spending their money.”

More information www.qimtek.co.uk

Next Phase For LSIC

The NCC, part of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult and the University of Bristol, has confirmed that the Large Structures Innovation Centre (LSIC) will be located on the Isle of Wight. The LSIC will be an open-access national facility to support the development, demonstration and industrialisation of large, high-performance structures across multiple sectors, with an initial focus on wind energy. It will equip industry with end-to-end innovation capabilities, supporting progress from concept through to end-of-life. NCC has announced Vestas as the LSIC’s launch partner.

More information www.nccuk.com