EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Andy Haldane joins AMRC

Former Bank of England chief economist Andy Haldane will chair the industrial board at University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) for the next three years. He brings a wealth of experience that will help shape and set the strategy for the AMRC and its 120 industrial members on where to put its horsepower and innovation to help grow the UK manufacturing sector. Haldane says that taking the post was a “coming together of topics” that have been at the centre of his career. He currently holds the post of chief executive of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA).
For further information www.amrc.co.uk

£450,000 investment

Hull-based Paragon Toolmaking has further invested in new machinery with a £450,000 spend set to accelerate production and increase automation when manufacturing precision tools. The investment includes a new CNC machine with a 3 x 2 m bed to cope with large die sets and plates, and work at twice the speed of previous machinery. Further investments include a new automated 700 x 1000mm surface grinder that will also help increase production speeds, freeing up operatives to work on other projects.Thesemachines follow the purchase of a new CMM last year.
For further information www.paragontoolmaking.com

OEMs back launch of ERS Hub

Hundreds of thousands of new skilled jobs require creation over the next two years if the UK is going to transition to zero-emission vehicles.Delegates at the first ever Electric Revolution Skills Hub (ERS Hub) conference heard how skills and training people are the two biggest barriers to ensuring the country leads the way in the global electrification race. Leaders from the sector believe that taking action now means theUK can still become a hotbed for the production and development of power electronics, machines and drives (PEMD), generating more than £12bn of domestic revenue by 2025.

More than 200 delegates gathered at the ICC Birmingham to hear this rallying call and celebrate the official launch of the ERS Hub, an integrated digital platform providing inclusive access to training, development and jobs. Jaguar Land Rover, Lotus, Hewland and an army of SMEs are already backing its introduction, with 150 companies and organisations set to benefit in the first year alone.
For further information www.ershub.co.uk

Mazak creates new north-south sales structure

Yamazaki Mazak says it is implementing a new UK sales structure to support growing market demand for British-built machinery and bring the team even closer to its customer base.The structure, which includes the promotion of several experienced employees, will comprise of dedicated sales teams for the north and south of England under two newly appointed general sales managers: Brian Edmondson (photo, right)in the north and Alan Reeve (left) in the south. Both will report to UK sales director Jason Butler (centre).

The new structure is taking shape in advance of the impending retirement of long-serving UK general sales manager, Tony Creamer, whose career will draw to a close at the end of this month.In the north of England, Edmondson will enjoy support from Karl Hargreaves, Mark Ireland, Joe Trozzo and Stephen Bower, with newly appointed Liam Slack in an area sales engineer role.In the south, Neil Coggins, Tim Ponter and John McNally will support Reeve, with Steve Livett gaining promotion to area sales manager.
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

Emag names Markus Clement as new CEO

On 1 April 2023 Dr Heinz-Jürgen Prokop handed over the CEO position of machine tool manufacturer Emag to Markus Clement, who has held various company positions over the past 24 years. “I’m looking forward to this new challenge, because EMAG is a great company and I can see many positive development opportunities in the interest of our customers. I feel certain that with the new product and technology developments, as well as extremely committed employees, the Emag Group has the right solutions on offer for the demands of the future in the field of productive precision manufacturing.”
For further information www.emag.com