EDITORIAL ROUNDUP

Sheffield Forgemasters meets PM

A delegation from Sheffield Forgemasters joined the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and
Secretary of State for Defence John Healy MP, at 10 Downing Street earlier this month.
Two apprentices, Renee Marsh and Harley Edmonds, were accompanied by people
development specialist Harriett Eccles and CEO Gary Nutter at the event, which set out to
raise the importance of skilled jobs in defence manufacture.
In addition to meeting the Ministers, the Sheffield Forgemasters team spoke to an audience
of college students about the well-paid opportunities that defence manufacturing jobs can
offer. The company’s ongoing apprenticeships programme, coupled with its large-scale
recapitalisation programme, is providing career opportunities for decades to come. 
More information www.sheffieldforgemasters.com

150 new manufacturing roles

JLR is recruiting 150 maintenance technicians in the West Midlands. The engineering roles
are central to the company’s ‘Reimagine’ strategy, which will see pure electric versions of all
of its brands launched by the end of the decade. Of the 150 roles, 50 are at its Solihull plant.
These positions will maintain automated and stateoftheart manufacturing equipment
essential to the production of forthcoming Range Rover Electric.
The remaining 100 maintenance roles are based at JLR’s Electric Propulsion Manufacturing
Centre in Wolverhampton. With the site playing a key role in JLR’s UK industrial footprint,
the technicians will help maintain advanced machinery used to build battery packs and
Electric Drive Units (EDUs) for JLR’s next-generation electric vehicles.
More information www.jaguarlandrover.com

Pailton names new MD

Coventry-based steering systems manufacturer Pailton Engineering has appointed Dave Pound as its new managing director. The family-run business is confident that Pound’s experience with tier-one automotive suppliers will help Pailton continue its upward trajectory. “The attraction was a business that is clearly doing well, but wants to do even better,” he explains. “Before taking this role, I had a lot of interaction with people here, from the family to the team members on the shop floor. It felt like everyone was ready to embrace change and I’m convinced that we can make a positive difference.”  

More information www.pailton.com

Metrology open day races to success

Bowers Group hit top gear at its recent metrology open day, hosted in collaboration with the University of Wolverhampton Racing (UWR). The event, held at the university’s engineering hub in Telford, brought together industry professionals from over 20 companies for an action-packed day of precision measurement, live demonstrations and motorsport innovation.

Martin Hawkins, managing director at Bowers Group, said: “Precision and accuracy are at the core of both high-performance engineering and competitive motorsport, making our relationship with UWR the perfect model to present an engaging and insightful metrology open day. The relationships built and strengthened during the event are something we’re excited to develop further as we move forward.”

More information www.bowersgroup.co.uk

Aerospace firm invests £2m

ASG King & Fowler, an aerospace surface treatment specialist with a heritage dating back to 1887, has installed and commissioned a new tartaric sulphuric anodising (TSA) line and paint booths. The project marks the completion of a £2m investment designed to enhance production efficiency, increase capacity and align with upcoming regulatory changes within the aerospace sector. The new TSA line with fully automated control will further enhance the scope of ASG King and Fowler’s capability. Able to process aluminium parts up to 5.6 m in length, the line boosts capacity for both large components and high-volume small parts.More information www.asg-group.co/king-fowler