Following a recent £2.5m investment in its new CNC machining shop and securing orders worth £1m from the electrification sector, Wednesbury-based aluminium foundry Alucast has joined a new cluster.

Although it is early days, the management team at the Black Country manufacturer is expecting volumes destined for electric powertrain/vehicles to account for 25% of its turnover going forward, and this is one of the reasons why it has decided to join the newly created MAN Electrification Cluster, which features Balluff, Brandauer, C-MAC SMT and PP Control & Automation.

For further information www.alucast.co.uk

A specialist in cable-cleat manufacture, Ellis Patents, has invested £0.5m in a 25% expansion of its North Yorkshire headquarters, the main element of which is a new 10,000 sq ft warehouse.

While the new facility will be used primarily for assembly and storage, its construction has released 7000 sq ft of space in existing parts of Ellis’ premises. This space will be used to expand the company’s manufacturing facilities – a development that is seen as vital for future growth and improved business efficiency.

For further information www.ellispatents.co.uk

CGTech has appointed its first apprentice as part of the UK technical support team.

Will Culliford started his role as apprentice technical support engineer at the beginning of this month after initially completing a six-week work-experience placement last year. During his work experience, based at the CGTech office in Berkeley, Gloucestershire, Culliford completed all training courses and helped test the next Vericut release. As part of his apprenticeship he will be attending Gloucestershire Engineering Training College (GET) on a full-time basis for the first academic year.

For further information www.cgtech.co.uk

Sheffield-based Inspec Solutions, a technology systems provider to industries including power generation, metals and petrochemical, has invested in its future by recruiting three new apprentices:

Tom Oakley (18), Tom Rickers (17) and Michael Cunningham (26). All three are undertaking a BSc in electrical engineering with Sheffield Hallam University, while simultaneously working as assistant controls engineers at Inspec Solutions. They join five apprentices already employed at the company as it continues investing in its own talent.

Mark Ritson, managing director at Inspec Solutions, says: “We’re constantly looking to increase our talent pool and strongly believe in training our own engineers to grow and develop within the company. This is our fourth cohort of apprentices and we really do recognise the value they bring to the business. We’ve kept a competitive edge by investing in our people – and our commitment to developing our own engineers through apprentice schemes is a big part of this.”

For further information www.inspecsolutions.co.uk