UK NEWS

Apprenticeships and graduate jobs

BAE Systems is set for another record-breaking recruitment drive in 2024 with almost 2700 new apprentice and graduate opportunities available across the UK.The company has more than doubled its early careers intake in the past five years, offering more young people than ever the prospect of long-term careers. Over 1400 apprentices will join BAE Systems, with the majority of roles based in the north of England, alongside other opportunities across the south of England, Scotland and Wales. The company also plans to recruit almost 1300 graduates in 2024.
For further information www.baesystems.com

ITC unveils Widia seven-flute milling line

The Widia VariMill range of solid-carbide end mills, available in the UK from Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC), is seeing yet another evolution with the arrival of the new high-performance machining line of VariMill Chip Splitter end mills.

Suitable for cutting materials in ISO groups P, M, K, S and H, the new series is a high-performance tool that ITC says delivers exceptional material removal rates. The Chip Splitter series is for high chip control in dynamic milling, ramping, helical interpolating and side milling at high speeds and feed rates. This capability enables the tool to run with a longer axial depth of cut while diving into deep pockets in high-temperature alloys, steel and stainless steel. The Chip Splitter series is available as a five- or seven-flute variant with Widia’s WP15PE and WS15PE carbide grades to accommodate the machining of various materials.

Widia’s VariMill Chip Splitter offers features that improve chip evacuation by breaking the chips into small segments. This simplifies swarf removal from the work area and significantly improves cutting speeds and feeds when processing small pockets up to 5xD, or when machining at full depth of cut.

The seven-flute end mills are available with a straight or Weldon shank in 3xD or 5xD variants. Straight-shank 3xD end mills are available in 10, 12 and 16mm diameters with the Weldon shank designation also offering a 20 mm diameter variant. The 3xD tools have a flute length from 32 to 50mm with an overall length of 80 to 110 mm. Similarly, the 5xD plain shank variant is available from 10 to 16mm diameter with the Weldon shank also offering a 20mm diameter variant.
For further information www.itc-ltd.co.uk

Enhancing the UK’slaunch capability

Skyrora and Spirit AeroSystems are announcing a new collaboration on orbital launch capability. UK-based launch-vehicle manufacturer Skyrora is developing an agile, end-to-end launch service to provide access to space for small satellites globally. Having conducted a test launch of the suborbital Skylark L vehicle in October 2022 as part of the company’s incremental learning approach, Skyrora is well on track to become the first UK company to vertically launch satellites from the UK, expecting to conduct up to 16 launches per year once at scale.

Spirit’s presence in the UK space sector is growing. Its broad offering of adaptive manufacturing and testing solutions in metallics and composites, at both its Scotland and Northern Ireland facilities, brings significant industrial capacity to Skyrora’s launch proposition. Leveraging Spirit’s aero-structures expertise, the companies will explore opportunities to transition Skyrora’s orbital launch vehicles from development to full-scale production.
For further information www.spiritaero.com

Manufacturing growth and jobs in Manchester

A new Investment Zone for Greater Manchester, announced by the Chancellor in the Autumn Statement, is expected to create 32,000 jobs and leverage £1.1bn of private sector investment.The Investment Zone will provide £160m in public funding over 10 years to support initiatives and interventions agreed between Greater Manchester and the Government, which will include new research and innovation, sector-focussed skills programmes, local infrastructure enhancements and targeted business support.Greater Manchester’s Investment Zone will focus on the advanced materials and manufacturing sectors.
For further information www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk

£38m funding to upgrade UKBIC

The UK Battery Industrialisation Centre (UKBIC) has secured a further £38m in funding to upgrade the facility’s scale-up capabilities, thus supporting innovation projects for high-tech developers and users of battery technologies. This new funding, announced as part of the Autumn Statement, is principally for UKBIC’s flexible scale-up line, and builds upon the £36m already committed by Faraday Battery Challenge in May. Preparatory work on construction of thefacility is already underway.

The new funding will enhance Coventry-based UKBICs’ offering to customers and enable activities that include: the installation of additional electrode production equipment as part of UKBIC’s new flexible scale-up line; the installation of a flexible 800 sq m clean and dry industrialisation space for new manufacturing process demonstration; and the development of advanced digital manufacturing capability to transform how data is analysed during the upscaling of products and processes at UKBIC.
For further information www.ukbic.co.uk