UK NEWS

Micrometric MD givenprestigious fellowship

Neil Main, managing director of Lincoln-based Micrometric, has received an award for his outstanding lifetime contribution to the industrial use of lasers. Mainreceived the Fellowship Award at the AILU ILAS 2023 Symposium Dinner, an event celebrating all things relating to industrial lasers. He said: “I’ve been involved with AILU since its inception, and it’s a great way of bringing all stages of laser processing together and building the knowledge around laser manufacturing. I’m very pleased to accept this Fellowship Award, and honoured that my work as president isgetting recognition in this way.”
For further information www.micrometric.co.uk

Renishaw celebrates 50 years of innovation

This year, Renishaw is celebrating its 50th anniversary. The company, which began trading on 4 April 1973, will mark this significant milestone with a year of global activities, including open house events at its largest sites, family days for employees and a ‘50 at 50′ charity initiative that will see £150,000 donated to 50 not-for-profit organisations in the 36 countries where it has offices.

The company was formed half a century ago to commercialise the invention of a touch-trigger probe by now executive chairman Sir David McMurtry, solving a dimensional measurement problem at Rolls-Royce when manufacturing Olympus engines for the supersonic Concorde aircraft. Today, Renishaw is listed on the FTSE 250 index with a current valuation around £3bn. The company employs 5200 employees in 36 countries, including 3400 staff at its sites in the UK, primarily in Gloucestershire and south Wales.
For further information www.renishaw.com

Northern Industrial joins Radwell International

On 1 April, Northern Industrial joined Radwell International in a move designed to bring increased efficiency, better value, and the ability to adapt and scale the combined offering to meet the global purchasing needs of customers worldwide.General manager of Europe, David Lenehan, says: “After over 40 years of growth, Northern Industrial is delighted to become part of Radwell. Already employing over 2000 people in 15 locations, Radwell is a global force to be reckoned with, whose services, ethics and culture are in-line with everything we have built here at Northern Industrial.”
For further information www.nicontrols.com

Gripple names new MD

Gripple, a manufacturer of wire joiners and tensioners for agriculture, innovative suspension solutions for construction, and engineered solutions for civil, solar and infrastructure applications, has appointed a new managing director for the UK & Ireland and new board directors. Kevin St Clair takes up the role of UK managing director following 21 years at Gripple, while Charlotte Hill will replace St Clair in his former role as operations director and Sam Ryall joins as supply chain director. St Clair says: “My focus will be on delivering strong results in the UK and continuing to improve our global service and support.”
For further information www.gripple.com

Business behind Covid memorial invests in youngsters

An engineering business behind a striking Covid-19 memorial is investing in young people as it looks to build a bright future.R.A.F Engineering, like many businesses, put its expansion plans on ice to ensure it could deal with the economic impact of Brexit, Covid-19, war in Ukraine and increased energy bills.Now, the Workington-based companyis setting its sights on the growth and diversification that itpreviously planned.

Rafal Gibki and Aneta Gibka took over the company, formerly Hudson Swan, five years ago, with ambitious plans to develop the business.They are already ahead of schedule on their revised plans after reaching a £1m turnover target in February 2023.“We’ve also continued to recruit young people and apprentices from Lakes College and trained them up ourselves,” says Gibka. “Rafal has a lot of engineering experience so young people and apprentices who come here are gaining expertise and knowledge that is standing them, and the business, in good stead.”
For further information www.rafengineering.co.uk