Andy Hodgson, president of the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), has regrettably had to step down from the role (and as an MTA board member) for personal reasons. Dave Burley, senior advisor to the board of NCMT and current MTA vice-president, has kindly stepped into the position. James Selka, CEO of the MTA, says: “We are sorry to see Andy retire, but totally respect his decision. We’re incredibly lucky to have a talented and strong board representing our members, and are grateful and delighted to welcome Dave Burley into the role of president.”

For further information
www.mta.org.uk

The second annual National Manufacturing Summit will focus on sustainable manufacturing in the UK, which is working towards a net zero economy. Following on from COP26 and the successful inaugural National Manufacturing Summit in March, the 2022 event will be an opportunity to set a framework for sustainable manufacturing, pulling together the opportunities of emerging technologies and the need to remain globally competitive. The summit, hosted by the MTC in Coventry on 8-9 February will be a hybrid event featuring live, face-to-face presentations and discussions, as well as an interactive virtual audience.

For further information
https://nmsummit.co.uk

Sheffield Forgemasters, a castings and forging company tackling some of the world’s most complex engineering challenges in clean energy and defence, has signed up as a Tier One Partner with the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC). The move will give the 200 year-old company, recently taken into public ownership with a planned investment of £400m, access to the AFRC’s R&D facilities in Renfrewshire, which focus on emerging areas of advanced manufacturing, such as residual stress, cutting-edge furnaces, and forging expertise in Industry 4.0 data analytics and modelling.

For further information
www.sheffieldforgemasters.com

HS2 confirmed that Derbyshire-based Stanton Precast has been awarded a major contract to deliver three innovative ‘green tunnels’ for the high-speed rail project in a move that is set to create up to 100 local jobs. Four miles worth of tunnel will be built in thousands of sections at the Ilkeston factory before shipping to site and assembling at three locations in Buckinghamshire and Northamptonshire, to reduce disruption and improve efficiency. In total Stanton will produce more than 13,290 tunnel segments to form the three green tunnels.

For further information
www.stantonprecast.co.uk

A UK designer and manufacturer of cooling and HVAC products to the transport sector has sealed a string of new contract wins that has seen it take sales past pre-Covid levels. Birmingham-based Grayson Thermal Systems has bounced back from the pandemic after securing more than £8m of orders from customers including ABB, Solaris, Skoda and Wrightbus. Group turnover has now risen to £32m supported by the creation of more than 40 new jobs.

The company’s new Battery Thermal Management System (BTMS) is proving extremely popular with its core bus and coach market, as well as other customers in the off-highway commercial vehicle and rail sectors. This ‘plug and play’ technology helps to regulate the temperature of electric vehicle batteries.

For further information www.graysonts.com