UK NEWS

AWI achieves record-breaking year

Export successes, security of supply and making every member of the business a shareholder were just some of the highlights of a record-breaking year for Alloy Wire International (AWI). This manufacturer of round, flat and profile wire has delivered £17.9m of sales since the MBO 12 months ago, a near £5m rise on the same period in 2022 and £3m above anticipated revenues. The senior management team puts the expansion down to a resurgence in the oil and gas industry and aerospace volumes returning post-pandemic, plus ongoing growth in automotive and new opportunities in R&D and space exploration.

For further information www.alloywire.com

UK degree in space systems engineering

BAE Systems and the University of Portsmouth have launched the UK’s first-ever degree apprenticeship in Space Systems Engineering. Applications are now open for the initial intake of space degree apprentices. The new recruits will be part of exciting projects such as Azalea, which is due to launch its first multi-sensor low Earth orbit satellite cluster in 2025 to deliver intelligence in real-time to military customers.

Apprentices will learn on-the-job critical skills at BAE Systems’ sites in Alton and Guildford, including system and mission analysis, software development and electronics from some of the industry’s most talented people. At the University of Portsmouth, apprentices will undertake a BEng in Space Systems Engineering. This four and half year course will provide them with the latest skills in CAD, telecommunication systems, space science, space mission design, and materials and manufacture.

For further information www.bit.ly/3uzl6xq

10 years of delivering apprenticeships

University of Sheffield AMRC Training Centre is celebrating 10 years of delivering apprenticeships, helping to transform lives, forge strong partnerships and create an engineering workforce fit for the future. Since the first cohort of apprentices started in 2013, the AMRC Training Centre has delivered more than 1700 apprenticeships from advanced level through to degree, worked with 400 different businesses of all sizes and provided continuous professional development to upskill and reskill existing workforces. 

Nikki Jones, director of the AMRC Training Centre, says: “We must continue to invest in apprenticeships nationally and continue to support all employers – large or small – to take on apprentices. They bring new skills and fresh ideas. Innovation and a skilled workforce are different sides of the same coin; they are both essential to economic growth and you cannot have one without the other.”

For further information www.amrctraining.co.uk

Smart tool will energise electrification jobs

The launch of a new electrification self-assessment tool will help fill the 169,000 jobs that the UK electrification sector requires. This online platform will help individuals better understand the skills, courses and roles available in the industry and how they measure up, giving them a clear pathway to achieve a potential career in the sector. The self-assessment tool takes less than 30 minutes to complete and is suitable for people already working in the industry, as well as those who have no prior experience but are looking for an initial insight into UK electrification.

For further information www.ershub.co.uk

ETG expands its offering

CNC machine tool supplier, the Engineering Technology Group (ETG), has formed a new business division for fabrication. Always intent on meeting market challenges, the new ‘Fabrication Division’ will provide turnkey solutions for the fabrication industry with the VLB Group as one of its partners.

As with all solutions and services from ETG, the company has no interest in ‘shifting boxes’, so the new Fabrication Division will be headed up by Andrew Smith Hughes who joins the ETG family with more than a decade of expertise in delivering turnkey solutions to the marketplace. The new Fabrication Division will incorporate a range of technologies that include tube bending, flat-bed laser cutting and cold roll forming to list but a few, with ancillary fabrication product lines also available to support manufacturers.

For further information www.engtechgroup.com