After a lifetime working in the machine tool industry, area sales manager Chris Smith has retired from Heller Machine Tools.

In the mid-60s, Smith entered a five-year technical apprenticeship at British Motor Corporation’s Austin plant in Longbridge. Subsequently a project engineer with Land Rover and then Rover, he started in machine tool sales at Kearney Trecker Marwin (KTM), Brighton, in 1984. In the late 80s and early 90s, Smith started selling agency lines of machine tools, first for a firm in the Midlands before heading up his own company in the southwest, AMS Technology. He joined Heller Machine Tools, a wholly owned subsidiary of the German machine tool builder in June 1994.
For further information www.heller.biz

A West Midlands training provider believes manufacturing’s recent growth could be hampered if the UK cannot get more people to take up vacant apprenticeship opportunities.

Gareth Jones, joint managing director at In-Comm Training, says his Aldridge-based academy has more than 100 positions – all attached to high value engineering jobs – that are available immediately, but there seems to be a reluctance to come forward and take advantage of them. He puts this down to engineering and manufacturing still suffering from negative perceptions in schools and a lack of understanding on the career opportunities an apprenticeship could offer.
“Companies are coming forward and saying they want to invest in apprentices; that challenge has been overcome to a certain degree,” explains Jones, who runs the business with his sister Bekki Phillips. “We now need to make sure that, as a country, we’ve got a pipeline of young people or more mature learners to fill them.”
For further information www.in-comm.co.uk

Three years ago, Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC) made a strategic decision to become the UK agent for the Big Kaiser brand of tooling. Since signing the agreement, sales of Big Kaiser product lines have more than trebled in the UK. In fact, the UK has rapidly become the fifth largest European market for Big Kaiser.

Discussing the founding of the relationship with ITC and how the partnership has flourished over the past three years, Giampaolo Roccatello, Big Kaiser head of sales for southern Europe, says: “When we wanted to target growth in the UK, we spoke with numerous companies at MACH 2014. It was very important that we found a partner that would complement, rather than conflict, with our brand. We spoke with ITC and found they were very focused, passionate and technically competent, and this fitted our philosophy perfectly. We had an ambition to reach sales of £1m in the UK by 2020; this target will be reached well before this date.”
For further information www.itc-ltd.co.uk

Oelheld UK, a manufacturer and supplier of metalworking fluids, water-soluble lubricants and filtration and extraction systems, has expanded its UK operation.

The Denbigh headquarters in North Wales has now doubled in size with the acquisition of a new warehouse. Purchasing the adjacent unit, the additional warehouse has doubled the company’s storage space from 6000 to 12,000 sq ft. This acquisition has been driven by continual growth in sales of metalworking fluids, filtration systems and EDM consumables.
For further information www.oelheld.co.uk