EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Major casting award for William Cook

Sheffield-headquartered William Cook Holdings, a supplier of safety-critical steel components, beat off the challenge of the other finalists to secure the ‘Company of the Year’ title at the recent UK Cast Metals Industry Awards. William Cook impressed judges with landmark rail contract wins, support for the war effort in Ukraine and a £5m investment programme that reinforces its position in the nuclear power supply chain.The group also protected vital foundry skills when it saved 75 jobs by acquiring HI Quality Steel Castings of Chesterfield out of administration.

Organised by the Cast Metals Federation (CMF), there were also major accolades for Tamworth-based Foseco (Innovation) and Sylatech, which claimed the Component of the Year Award.The latter was for work in producing a prosthetic aluminium thumb for use by children.
For further information www.castmetalsfederation.com

Apprenticeships and graduate jobs

BAE Systems is set for another record-breaking recruitment drive in 2024 with almost 2700 new apprentice and graduate opportunities available across the UK.The company has more than doubled its early careers intake in the past five years, offering more young people than ever the prospect of long-term careers. Over 1400 apprentices will join BAE Systems, with the majority of roles based in the north of England, alongside other opportunities across the south of England, Scotland and Wales. The company also plans to recruit almost 1300 graduates in 2024.
For further information www.baesystems.com

Enhancing the UK’slaunch capability

Skyrora and Spirit AeroSystems are announcing a new collaboration on orbital launch capability. UK-based launch-vehicle manufacturer Skyrora is developing an agile, end-to-end launch service to provide access to space for small satellites globally. Having conducted a test launch of the suborbital Skylark L vehicle in October 2022 as part of the company’s incremental learning approach, Skyrora is well on track to become the first UK company to vertically launch satellites from the UK, expecting to conduct up to 16 launches per year once at scale.

Spirit’s presence in the UK space sector is growing. Its broad offering of adaptive manufacturing and testing solutions in metallics and composites, at both its Scotland and Northern Ireland facilities, brings significant industrial capacity to Skyrora’s launch proposition. Leveraging Spirit’s aero-structures expertise, the companies will explore opportunities to transition Skyrora’s orbital launch vehicles from development to full-scale production.
For further information www.spiritaero.com

Manufacturing growth and jobs in Manchester

A new Investment Zone for Greater Manchester, announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement, is expected to create 32,000 jobs and leverage £1.1bn of private sector investment.The Investment Zone will provide £160m in public funding over 10 years to support initiatives and interventions agreed between Greater Manchester and the Government, which will include new research and innovation, sector-focussed skills programmes, local infrastructure enhancements and targeted business support.Greater Manchester’s Investment Zone will focus on the advanced materials and manufacturing sectors.
For further information www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk

£38m funding to upgrade UKBIC

The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) has secured a further £38m in funding to upgrade the facility’s scale-up capabilities, thus supporting innovation projects for high-tech developers and users of battery technologies. This new funding, announced as part of the Autumn Statement, is principally for UKBIC’s flexible scale-up line, and builds upon the £36m already committed by Faraday Battery Challenge in May. Preparatory work on construction of thefacility is already underway.

The new funding will enhance Coventry-based UKBICs’ offering to customers and enable activities that include: the installation of additional electrode production equipment as part of UKBIC’s new flexible scale-up line; the installation of a flexible 800 sq m clean and dry industrialisation space for new manufacturing process demonstration; and the development of advanced digital manufacturing capability to transform how data is analysed during the upscaling of products and processes at UKBIC.
For further information www.ukbic.co.uk