Blackburn-based Northern Industrial has reported its best financial year ever, with turnover 20% up on the previous 12 months. The company experienced a slight dip when Covid-19 hit, but has rallied due, it believes, to good infrastructure, a shift towards the Americas supported by new operations in Mexico, the launch of a major new service line in SparesVault and growth-focused campaigns such as ‘Sell to Us’. Exporting industrial spare parts and repair services to 146 countries from its Blackburn facilities, Northern Industrial holds around £10m in stock covering over 200,000 part numbers sourced from over 1350 manufacturers.

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The University of Huddersfield’s Centre for Precision Technologies will be receiving £3m of funding over the next five years to lead major research programmes designed to drive advancements in machinery design and performance. The news follows the Government’s recent announcement that over £100m of new investment through its Strength in Places Fund will support five new regional programmes. One of these is the West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester based Advanced Machinery and Productivity Initiative, known as AMPI, which consists of 10 partners, including the Centre for Precision Technologies.

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A research project driven by the NBT Group, Northumbria University and Senseye has been awarded over a quarter of a million pounds to evaluate new and emerging ‘smart’ technologies, helping to digitalise and transform manufacturing supply chains. This award is part of £18m of funding grants from the Digital Supply Chain competition, which forms part of UKRI’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund (ISCF) Made Smarter innovation challenge. The Digital Supply Chain competition supports the development of innovations designed to help supply chains become more productive and sustainable.

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www.northumbria.ac.uk/business

Bowers Group is extending its sponsorship of the University of Wolverhampton Racing (UWR) team to include the team’s Morgan Plus Four cars into the 2022 season. Acting as Morgan’s factory works team, UWR has converted two Morgan Plus Four models from road cars into fully prepared racing vehicles. Having signed a new five-year partnership agreement with Morgan Motor Co in March, the University of Wolverhampton is now on track to offer a racing programme that will further improve the student experience.
As part of its extended sponsorship, Bowers Group will provide the University’s School of Engineering with a range of metrology tools and equipment to aid the students in their learning. The equipment not only provides the best footing for the team’s precision measurement needs, but enhances the learning of students by offering access to tools that will be at the heart of their future careers.

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www.bowersgroup.co.uk

In a special ceremony at BAE Systems’ shipyard in Glasgow, His Royal Highness Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, set a plasma cutting machine to work on the first plate of steel for the third Type 26 frigate, HMS Belfast. The event marks an important step in the programme to deliver the UK’s latest anti-submarine warfare capability to the Royal Navy, with all three of the first batch of ‘City Class’ frigates now under construction. The UK-sourced steel plate will form part of a unit that will contain the machinery/equipment space for the frigate’s gearbox and stabilisers.

For further information
www.baesystems.com