UK NEWS

UK’s first commercial waste-to-hydrogen plant

Up to 400 construction jobs and 100 permanent roles could be created under plans for the UK’s first commercial-scale waste-to-hydrogen facility. The £120m proposal, brought forward by Hydrogen TE (Manston) Ltd, has been submitted as part of a full planning application for a site at Manston, Kent. The development would process around 44,000 tonnes of non-recyclable waste each year, including household waste, commercial plastics, timber and decommissioned wind turbine blades. The facility is expected to produce up to 8000 tonnes of hydrogen annually, supplying low-carbon fuel for industrial use.

More information www.hte-manston.co.uk

Meeting Black Country manufacturing’s energy needs

A major UK energy management consultancy has signed a new commercial partnership with the Black Country Chamber of Commerce to help local manufacturers navigate the increasingly complex energy market. Greenfields Energy Group, which already works with 64 companies in the region, will provide members with a no-cost review of their existing and future electricity, gas and water contracts.

Greenfields’ 10-strong team of experts will identify opportunities for immediate and long-term cost savings, as well as security of supply to power businesses as they look to plan for future expansion. Certain services will be discounted to Black Country Chamber members, while a series of webinars on breaking energy trends and issues will be delivered free of charge throughout the year.

More information www.greenfieldsenergygroup.co.uk

New MD named for FANUC UK and Ireland

Factory automation specialist FANUC has named Andy Armstrong as the new managing director of FANUC UK and FANUC Ireland, effective immediately. With a long history in the automation sector and over 40 years of experience in engineering and sales, Armstrong has spent the past two years as vice MD for FANUC UK and FANUC Ireland. The appointment will see him continue positive steps taken by previous MD Tom Bouchier to support FANUC UK’s continued growth and alignment with the company’s broader European goals. Tom will now focus on his role as FANUC’s cluster co-ordinator for northern Europe.

More information www.fanuc.eu

UK Manufacturers Outpace Peers

New analysis from FourJaw Manufacturing Analytics produced for the recent National Productivity Week shows the UK manufacturing sector has achieved sustained growth in output and productivity over the past five years, despite a smaller workforce and historically high levels of inflation. FourJaw’s analysis of the world’s largest manufacturing economies found that UK output in 2025 was 6% above 2020 levels, after accounting for inflation.

This real-terms growth outpaced that of peers such as the US (+4%) and Japan (+2%), while Germany saw a 6% decline. Despite a 4% reduction in the UK factory workforce, output has continued to rise, suggesting increased adoption of automation, robotics and data analytics to drive efficiency. In 2025, only factories in the US (£449k per worker) and France (£339k per worker) produced more output per worker than in the UK (£253k per worker).

More information www.fourjaw.com

Iconsys launches dedicated industrial cyber security solution

Iconsys has reinforced its commitment to becoming a full industrial lifecycle partner by launching a dedicated cybersecurity offer designed to protect manufacturers’ operational technology (OT) environments and production facilities from growing cyber threats. The Telford-based company – which has delivered more than 5000 automation projects across heavy industry, marine, offshore and advanced manufacturing – has introduced its new ‘GUARD’ solution, a five-stage approach to improving industrial cyber resilience.

Developed specifically for industrial environments where uptime, safety and legacy system integration create unique challenges, GUARD takes manufacturers from initial consultation and assessment through to protection, training and ongoing resilience support.

To deliver a complete single-source service, Iconsys has signed agreements with cybersecurity specialists OPSWAT and Rhelative, providing advanced cyber software support and risk assessment services.

Leandro Gasparini (pictured), director of services at Iconsys, says: “We regularly see the devastating financial impact and economic shock that cybersecurity attacks can have on business. Worryingly, threat actors are getting braver and widening their net to focus on businesses of all sizes. That’s where we come in. We’ve listened and responded by launching a solution that covers all industrial systems, automation and operational technology.”

The GUARD framework begins with audits, vulnerability analysis and network assessments, followed by tailored security roadmaps aligned with IEC 62443, ISO 27001 and emerging UK and EU regulatory requirements. Iconsys then delivers secure architecture design, threat detection, access control implementation and incident response training. The final stage focuses on long-term resilience through recovery support, managed cyber services and continual best-practice deployment.

Nick Darrall, managing director of Iconsys, adds: “By combining deep industrial expertise with proven OT cyber capability, we are removing complexity from what is often a fragmented and high-risk process.”

More information www.iconsys.co.uk