Like much of Europe, the UK is in the midst of a fuel crisis that is pushing the UK government to source more fuel from the North Sea, as well as driving investment in the renewables industry. To capitalise upon this, machine tool supplier Dugard has employed Steven McBride as its new area sales manager in Scotland and northeast England.Joining the company in February, McBride is relishing the challenge of introducing the range of Ibarmia, SMEC, Kitamura and Hanwha machine tools that are available in the UK from Dugard.

Commenting upon the addition of McBride to the Dugard team, sales director Colin Thomson says: “Steven has an excellent track record in technical sales, which will put him in good stead for his future at Dugard. Additionally, as a highly-skilled maintenance and sales engineer, Steven’s fundamental knowledge and understanding will be extremely beneficial to customers of Dugard in Scotland.”
For further information www.dugard.com

With support from central government funds, EKC group is investing significantly to develop engineering centres of excellence across three of its six community colleges in East Kent. This investment includes 25 machines valued at around £500,000 from XYZ Machine Tools, covering CNC machining and turning centres, as well as an array of manual machines located at Dover Technical College, Canterbury College and Ashford College.

XYZ Machine Tools has a long history of working with the education sector through its ‘XYZ for Education’ initiative, which provides special pricing on the full range of XYZ machine tools, with ongoing training programmes. “We see it as vital to educate and inspire tomorrow’s engineers in order to maintain the UK’s position as a leader in engineering development and manufacturing,” states Nigel Atherton, managing director at XYZ Machine Tools.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) is to host a two-day conference at its Coventry facility to drive the uptake of robotics and automation across UK manufacturing. ‘Robotics and Automation – A New Perspective’, will take place on 10-11 May, exploring the future of automation and demonstrating the opportunities available to UK industry.Delegates will get the chance to share insights into the transformational benefits of robotic technologies and learn how automation can improve productivity and drive global competitiveness.

The free event will bring together high level speakers from industry, government and academia. Mike Wilson, chief automation officer at the MTC, says: “It’s an opportunity to meet, discuss and address the challenges with the adoption of automation and robotics. Delegates can listen to inspiring talks by industry experts, join educational workshops, discover innovative technologies or simply network with like-minded individuals.”
For further information www.bit.ly/3E4t6Z0

The continued resilience of the UK’s manufacturing base has delivered a strong sales year for machine tool producer Yamazaki Mazak.Despite challenging conditions, the company has reported strong sales in key markets and machine categories as UK manufacturers continued to invest in new technologies.

Alan Mucklow, managing director UK, Eire and national distributors, says: “The post-Covid upturn that started in 2021 continued into 2022 and we delivered a record month for production in late autumn. Our new machine sales figures are proof that UK manufacturing is willing to invest in new technology to remain productive and competitive.Our customers are telling us that they remain very busy,order books are full and they are confident about the future.”
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk