UK NEWS

Highest monthly turnover at FC Laser

Precision laser-cutting specialist FC Laser saw its customer activity grow by 20% last month, which led to the company achieving its highest ever monthly turnover. Moreover, in the past 12 months, FC Laser has experienced growth of 30%, so this recent level of activity represents a significant development for the business. FC Laser’s managing director Danny Fantom says: “Everyone in the company is always thinking about customer service and how we can improve it; and then improve it again. On top of this, employing a full-time person in a business and service development role has paid real dividends and underlined to our customers just how seriously we take their level
of satisfaction.”
For further information www.fclaser.co.uk

MGP hits ‘1000’ support milestone

More than 1000 SMEs have been given a business boost over the past 10 months thanks to a new £9.7m business support initiative. The Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP), funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and delivered by Economic Growth Solutions (EGS), has helped companies across the UK to grow, develop new products and overcome production issues that were previously holding them back.
This has already led to 400 new jobs, with an additional 359 positions expected to be created once ongoing projects are completed. At the end of July, £1.6m of grant contributions had been made, with money in place to support another 2200 firms between now and March 2019. The MGP offers an 18-strong network of experienced manufacturing growth managers, access to industry specialists and the opportunity to apply for an average grant of £1400, rising to a maximum £3500. Support can be used for leadership and management, R&D, lean manufacturing, productivity and capacity, quality systems or supply chain development.
For further information
www.manufacturinggrowthprogramme.co.uk

MGP hits ‘1000’ support milestone

More than 1000 SMEs have been given a business boost over the past 10 months thanks to a new £9.7m business support initiative. The Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP), funded by the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and delivered by Economic Growth Solutions (EGS), has helped companies across the UK to grow, develop new products and overcome production issues that were previously holding them back.

This has already led to 400 new jobs, with an additional 359 positions expected to be created once ongoing projects are completed. At the end of July, £1.6m of grant contributions had been made, with money in place to support another 2200 firms between now and March 2019. The MGP offers an 18-strong network of experienced manufacturing growth managers (MGM), access to industry specialists and the opportunity to apply for an average grant of £1400, rising to a maximum £3500. Support can be used for leadership and management, R&D, lean manufacturing, productivity and capacity, quality systems or supply chain development.
For further information www.manufacturinggrowthprogramme.co.uk

Dowty to build factory

Dowty Propellers has announced approvals to create a new facility in the Gloucester area. The move follows a fire in February 2015 that destroyed the company’s operating headquarters and blade manufacturing facility. Dowty expects that the new facility will be operational in 2019. The exact location will be determined by the end of this year on completion of a tender process to ensure the best combination of cost and efficiency.
For further information
www.dowty.com

MTC enhances 3D printing capability

The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) has become the UK’s first centre to install HP’s latest 3D printer, the Jet Fusion 4200, which was supplied by Europac 3D. It is housed
in the MTC’s National Centre for Additive Manufacturing, which recently agreed a partnership to be the benchmarking centre for the European Space Agency. The MTC says that the HP Jet Fusion 4200 will be available to all companies interested in testing the technology and the capabilities of 3D printing, allowing them to explore the latest technologies and see what benefits additive manufacturing may bring.
For further information www.europac3d.com