Well, the first quarter of 2023 is done and there is no let-up in the amount of Good News stories out there surround UK manufacturing and significant amounts of investment being made.
Although there is a lot of doom and gloom in the mainstream media, you don’t have to look hard to find positives regarding our engineering and manufacturing sectors.
The UK has a proud heritage of leading innovation, engineering expertise, can- do attitude, which make everything we all generally take for granted possible.
Great Britain is exactly that – Great and we should all shout this out from on high! Whether it’s defence or medical, aerospace or automotive, there’s so much to feel positive about.
Please feel free to share these stories and news articles from recent months and keep pushing to get the message out there loud and clear – UK Manufacturing is Great, Britain is Great!
UK firms set for 10m tonnes of orders to help wean Britain off foreign energy
British steelworkers could benefit from a 10 million-tonne orders bonanza to help the UK become energy self- sufficient. A study by metals giant Tata sets out how British steel firms could be set for a windfall to build the infrastructure needed – but require government support to help them switch to environmentally-friendly production.
Tata’s UK chairman Henrik Adam said: “Recent events have shown us just how crucial it is to have a secure energy supply.
“Achieving this will need an energy revolution in this country, requiring millions of tonnes of steel to build new energy generation projects.
“UK steelmakers, like Tata Steel, want to be part of this revolution, such as by developing new steel products for solar farms or for floating offshore wind structures.”
UK nuclear fuel production to be bolstered by £75m government funding
New plans to encourage investment in new and robust fuel production capabilities in the UK, to reduce reliance on civil nuclear and related goods from Russia.
Nuclear fuel production in the UK is set to be bolstered by up to £75m in UK government funding in a bid to support development of alternatives to Russian fuel supply and strengthen UK energy security, the Energy and Climate Minister Graham Stuart has announced.
This will encourage investment in new and robust fuel production capabilities in the UK, backing the government’s ambition to secure up to 24GW of nuclear power by 2050.
G7 leaders agreed in June to begin concerted action to reduce reliance on civil nuclear and related goods from Russia, including working to diversify their supplies of uranium and nuclear fuel production capability. Russia currently owns around 20% of global uranium conversion capacity and 40% of enrichment capacity.
The UK’s £75m Nuclear Fuel Fund will strengthen energy security by encouraging investment into the development and commercialisation of domestic nuclear fuel production including advanced fuel technologies.
Sheffield Forgemasters to build new forge facility
as part of £400m investment Sheffield Forgemasters has lodged plans for the construction of a building to house its new large forging press.
The company has submitted a full planning application to Sheffield City Council for development at its site on Brightside Lane.
Planning permission is sought for the construction of a new 144,000 sq ft structure on the site of its existing forge building, alongside the new forge, the development would include offices and a water pumping station.
The new building, which forms part of a significant investment programme, would accommodate a new 13,000-tonne forging press capable of pressing larger ingots.
A target date of 2025 has been set for the completion of works and the new forge press to be in operation.
A planning statement submitted as part of the application said: “The proposed development represents the first stage in a significant investment for Sheffield Forgemasters.”
This investment will safeguard a historic business within one of Sheffield’s historic industries, which has played a significant part in the growth of the city.
Leonardo lands major helicopter deal with Canadian government
Defence giant Leonardo has secured a £610m helicopter upgrade contract with the Canadian government.
The firm, which has a base in Yeovil, Somerset for its UK- based helicopter business, will upgrade 13 in-service Cormorant search and rescue helicopters for Canada’s Department of National Defence. It will also support the addition of three further aircraft to the fleet.
Leonardo said it would enhance the Cormorant’s systems and technologies as part of its work to extend the life expectancy of the fleet to beyond 2042.
The firm will be supported by its principal Canadian subcontractor IMP Aerospace and Defence together with General Electric Canada, and Collins Aerospace Canada. The majority of the work will be performed in Canada, primarily at IMP’s facilities Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Leonard said the project would help move the Cormorant fleet to the standard currently being delivered for search and rescue helicopters in Norway, which it said was “arguably the best” in the world.
Advanced manufacturing and technology lead the way as UK forecast to exit recession in second half of 2023
UK cities that have a high concentration of businesses involved in resilient sectors such as technology and advanced manufacturing are likely to see their local economies recover the fastest in 2023, says a new study by law firm Irwin Mitchell.
The Irwin Mitchell City Tracker has been produced by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr) and examines 50 locations across the UK and forecasts future economic growth in terms of GVA and employment.
The report says that the UK economy remains on a weak footing and that it expects that the Government’s official economic figures for Q4 2022, which will be announced in February, will confirm that the UK economy had two consecutive quarters of negative growth and went into recession in the second half of 2022.
Economists at Cebr predict the economy shrank by 0.3%at the end last year. This follows the 0.3% contraction witnessed in Q3 2022.
That’s all for now, but don’t go anywhere! We’ve got more exciting content coming your way from Bruderer’s Good News Matters.
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