EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Investment boost for West Midlands

More than 1000 SMEs in Birmingham, the Black Country and Solihull are set to receive a major investment readiness boost with the launch of a new support package.Oxford Innovation Advice has been contracted by Business Growth West Midlands to deliver an Investment Readiness programme.Utilising over £1m of funding from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF), the initiative will help SMEs demystify the world of business finance, covering topics such as debt and asset finance, grant funding opportunities, equity, and the increasingly popular crowdfunding route.
For further information www.bit.ly/3MMeAJx

OAS expands

A state-of-the-art extension to Oxfordshire Advanced Skills (OAS), at the UK Atomic Energy Authority’s (UKAEA) Culham Campus, is now complete and ready to receive its first cohort of learners.Representing an investment of £13m, supported by Government funding from the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) through UKAEA, the custom-built facility adds over 2000 sq m to the original building to provide space for learners in four additional industrial sectors: automation and controls, space, renewable energy, and nuclear.The expansion will allow OAS to accommodate a larger number of future engineers.
For further information www.oas.ukaea.uk

£11.3m battery project fully charged

A £11.3m project, designed to scale up the UK’s battery-pack manufacturing and supply chain capability, has been hailed a resounding success.The H1perChain project, funded by the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK (APC), has developed an automated pilot line for module/pack assembly, cell joining and in-line testing – delivering a step-change in high-performance battery costs and scalability.More than 50 highly skilled jobs have been created at the production facility in Coventry, with the promise of another 25 as it enters its first commercial agreement to supply battery packs for a global customer.
For further informationwww.hyperbat.com

New board of directors

At the autumn meeting of the VDMA Working Group Laser and Laser Systems for Material Processing (WG Laser), members held an election to confirm the newboard of directors and chairman.Dr Hagen Zimer, CEO laser technology at Trumpf, and Nikolas Meyer, head of sales and industry management at Weil Technology, are new board members. Dr Christoph Ullmann, general manager of Laserline GmbH is nowchairman of WG Laser with Dr Stefan Ruppik, vice president and general manager of high-power CO2 lasers andprofile welding systems at Coherent,acting as his deputy.
For further information www.vdma.org

Billions in funding for British manufacturers

The Government is announcing £4.5bn in funding for British manufacturing to increase investment in eight sectors across the UK. Funding will be available from 2025 for five years, providing industry with longer term certainty about investments. The Government is earmarking over £2bn for the automotive industry and £975m for aerospace, supporting the manufacturing, supply chain and development of zero emission vehicles, and investment in energy efficient and zero-carbon aircraft equipment.

Alongside this pledge, the government has committed to £960m for a ‘Green Industries Growth Accelerator’ to support clean energy manufacturing, and £520m for life sciences manufacturing to build resilience for future health emergencies and capitalise on the UK’s world-leading research and development. The announcement arrives ahead of the second Global Investment Summit taking place this week.
For further information www.gov.uk