THIS WEEK’S HIGHLIGHTS

Mastercam buys Cadline

Mastercam Italia, an affiliate of Mastercam, has completed its strategic acquisition of Cadline, a long-standing Mastercam channel partner. With the transaction signed and sealed, Cadline is now operating as Mastercam Italia, expanding Mastercam’s direct presence across the Italian manufacturing market. “This marks an important milestone for Mastercam and our customers in Italy,” states Russ Bukowski, president of Mastercam. “Customers will benefit from closer collaboration, faster technical support and solutions tailored to their regional manufacturing needs.” 

More information www.mastercam.com

Greenfields energises Brandauer’s expansion plan

Securing a cost-effective energy agreement has helped one of Birmingham’s oldest-established manufacturers reinvest in delivering precision components for the automotive, construction, electrification and medical sectors. Metal stamping specialist Brandauer has tapped into expert advice from Greenfields Energy to move to a fixed contract on electricity and a cheaper agreement for gas that has generated over £50,000 in savings.

The savings have immediately been channelled into an automated assembly line and enhancing Brandauer’s wire EDM capability. Liam Conway, co-founder of Greenfields Energy Group, says: “Brandauer can now plan for expansion with real certainty that there will be no nasty energy surprises, investing more in technology and recruiting the next generation of precision engineers.”

More information www.greenfieldsenergygroup.co.uk

Brother expands tech centre near Frankfurt

Whitehouse Machine Tools, the exclusive sales agent in the UK and Ireland for machine tools from Brother, is reporting a major expansion of its principal’s technology centre in Bad Homburg, near Frankfurt. The facility has been relocated to a new 1700 m² premises on Steinmühlstrasse, about 2.5 times the size of the original site, which is large enough to accommodate nearly the entire range of Brother’s Speedio machining centres.

The strategically located facility represents a significant expansion of Brother’s European presence, providing an accessible hub for technical excellence and dealer collaboration, 25 minutes from Frankfurt Airport. The centre is designed to enhance sales, technical knowledge transfer and training, while showcasing a comprehensive lineup of the manufacturer’s latest 30-taper machines. 

More information www.wmtcnc.com

Starrag UK appoints new sales manager

Starrag UK has appointed Ian Morton as its new sales manager, with responsibility for the company’s full machine tool portfolio across the UK and Ireland in all sectors outside aerospace. He succeeds Paul Zajac, who has retired after 50 years in the industry.Reporting into the Starrag UK leadership team and working alongside aerospace lead Simon Dutton, Morton’s remit covers the Starraggroup’s full premium brand lineup, spanning the compact Bumotec brand through SIP, Starrag and Heckert to the larger Dörries and Droop+Rein ranges.

More information www.starrag.com

Q1 Subcontract Market Up 8% on Q4 2025

The UK contract manufacturing market was fundamentally solid in the first quarter of 2026, showing healthy growth compared with the previous quarter, according to the latest Contract Manufacturing Index (CMI) figures. The CMI stood at 75 for the quarter, up 8% on Q4 2025. It showed solid month-on-month growth from January onwards, but by the end March supplier quoting activitystarted seeing the effects of global events. On a process basis, machining represented 45% of the market, unchanged from the previous quarter, whilefabrication rose from 42% to 47% at the expense of other processes like moulding.

More information www.qimtek.co.uk