Knighthood for IET president Warren East

Business chief and president of the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), Warren East, received a knighthood in the King’s New Year Honours list for services to the UK economy and net-zero ambitions. An inspiring engineer and leader with a career that spans 40 years, East has made significant contributions to the engineering and technology industry. His award of Knight Batchelor is in recognition of his work as a business leader, formerly holding CEO positions at chip manufacturer ARM and Rolls-Royce Plc, and championing future direction for a net-zero world.

More information www.theiet.org

£10k support for ‘green’ operations

The UK’s last remaining manufacturer of resin-bonded abrasives is looking to boost its export sales and ‘green’ its performance after securing nearly £10,000 of grants. Swift & Whitmore, which supplies more than 200 different abrasive products, has tapped into support from Business Growth West Midlands (BGWM) in Dudley to help target £8m sales and decarbonise its operations. Managing director Janette Tierney says: “BGWM has been a fantastic source of advice, guidance and financial support, putting us in a strong position to defy economic uncertainty and increase sales in 2025.”

More information www.bit.ly/4jrSmLZ

£3.5m Investment Drive Pays Off At Europlaz

A fast-growing contract manufacturing specialist for the healthcare sector has completed a
three-year, £3.5m investment drive as it targets new opportunities. Europlaz, which is
currently witnessing 20% year-on-year growth, has recently spent £750,000 on the
installation of three additional all-electric injection moulding machines to cope with an
increase in orders. Notably, this equipment complements a new CMM.

Boosted by an increase in capacity at its Southminster, Essex facility, the company is focused
on both UK and international medical device manufacturers and engineering design houses
seeking a strategic partner that can take projects from proof of concept to large-scale
commercial manufacturing.
“There’s been a massive surge in demand for our services, which support the development
and commercialisation of devices used in diagnostics, drug delivery, biotech and pharma,”
explains Katy O’Keeffe, marketing and strategy director. “We know there’s a massive
opportunity and have responded by continuing to invest. It takes our total spend to £3.5m
over the past three years and we’ve got more technology on order. This is the perfect time
to press the ‘growth’ button.”
Europlaz, which is ISO13485-certified, operates from a state-of-the-art production facility.
From here, the family-run business offers injection moulding, assembly, product validation
and access to modern cleanrooms, all certified to ISO Class 7 for the manufacture of Class I,
Class II and Class III medical devices.
“Sales have increased by 20% to £12.5m for this financial year and we’ve got contracts in
place to achieve over £14m in 2025,” says Rory O’Keeffe, commercial director at Europlaz.
“Investment has flowed into the latest equipment, which we’ve matched with a major
recruitment drive – taking on 25 new workers. A good proportion of these now form part of
our industry-leading technical team.”
More information www.europlaz.co.uk

University And TWI In R&D Partnership

A mutual aspiration to generate engineering and AI-driven solutions that deliver real-world
industrial impact has led to the formation of two new Innovation Centres by first-time
partners the University of Huddersfield and TWI Ltd: the Precision Engineering Innovation
Centre and the Applied Artificial Intelligence Innovation Centre. The former will focus on
machine tool technologies, the design and control of manufacturing machines, dimensional
metrology (calibration and use of measuring equipment to quantify the physical size and
shape of objects), surface metrology and precision manufacturing. 
More information www.hud.ac.uk

Lean workshop kickstarts investment

A precision engineering specialist has completed a £650,000 investment drive to help it
boost efficiency and create a new inspection department. Technoset, which employs 27
people at its factory in Rugby, took learnings from a Warwickshire Manufacturing Growth
Programme lean workshop to create a more streamlined process flow and a world-class
production and inspection cell.
Two Star SL 10 sliding-head lathes headline the recent investments, alongside two new
Mitutoyo Crysta-Apex CMMs. “We’re always looking at ways to improve our manufacturing
performance,” says managing director Adam Land. “Discussing and learning about different
best practice approaches at the lean workshop crystalised our thinking and gave us the
confidence to continue with our £650,000 investment.”
More information www.warwickshire-mgp.co.uk