News Archive

Manufacturing news

February 2007

Airbus cuts 1600 UK jobs

Airbus has confirmed that 10,000 European jobs will be axed after talks with union officials.
28 Feb 2007 16:36

BAE contract will save taxpayers £18 million

British aerospace and defence group BAE Systems has been awarded a £74 million government contract designed to improve the availability of Royal Navy and RAF Hawk jets and cut support costs.
28 Feb 2007 11:33

Airbus restructuring plans confirmed

A restructuring plan at Airbus could mean the loss of thousands of jobs
27 Feb 2007 11:41

GKN 'in great shape'

Unveiling its 2006 financial results today, engineering giant GKN said its four major businesses were “in great shape”.
27 Feb 2007 11:40

AB Foods’ figures set to meet expectations

The parent company of Primark and Silver Spoon, Associated British Foods, has today announced that profits are in line with expectations.
26 Feb 2007 10:31

Fashion sweetens ABF's outlook

The fad for affordable tops and trimmings to accompany catwalk chic among the fashionista together with sweet profits from its Silver Spoon sugar business, contributed to a bullish trading update from Associated British Foods today.
26 Feb 2007 10:54

Smolensky buys back TVR assets

Troubled sports car firm TVR has been sold back to its previous owner, Russian businessman Nikolai Smolensky, in a deal that has angered trade unions.
23 Feb 2007 9:56

BAE Systems’ profits surge on strong performance in the US

UK defence company, BAE Systems, has reported a substantial rise in operating profits, thanks to continued growth in its US markets.
22 Feb 2007 12:39

Manufacturing demand strongest for 12 years

Growing domestic demand has pushed total order book levels for manufactured goods to their healthiest level for 12 years, according to the CBI.
22 Feb 2007 9:25

Arcelor Mittal releases first results

The world's largest steel maker, Arcelor Mittal, has posted profits of $7.97 billion (£4.07 billion) for 2006 and plans to return $2.4 billion to shareholders.
21 Feb 2007 12:00

Cadbury's announces 2006 results

Cadbury Schweppes’ increases revenue by 15 per cent through cost reductions and a shift in market focus
20 Feb 2007 16:59

Morgan Crucible turns up the heat

Ceramics company Morgan Crucible warms up for 2007 with positive 2006 financial growth.
20 Feb 2007 12:50

Profits froth at S&N

Russia’s thirst for lager and the rising popularity of cider among barroom trendies helped sales and profits froth up and brewer Scottish & Newcastle although it warned that the smoking ban due to come into force in the summer would shave £10 million from 2007 profits.
20 Feb 2007 11:46

Rexam cans growth until 2008

Coke cans to cosmetics packaging giant Rexam warned today that high raw materials costs and the weak US dollar meant it would be 2008 before it returned to profitable growth.
20 Feb 2007 9:47

Airbus restructuring news delayed

Airbus has had to postpone announcing details of its restructuring plans because Britain, France, Germany and Spain cannot agree on how to share the work on its A350 aircraft, parent company EADS has said.
19 Feb 2007 13:22

Diageo to invest £100m in whisky making in Scotland

Drinks company Diageo is to invest £100 million in its Scottish whisky making operations over the next few years, creating up to 200 jobs in the industry.
16 Feb 2007 11:00

Pickle maker Ross calls in administrators

Manufacturing’s hard-pressed food and beverage sector took another hit yesterday as one of the largest independent pickling companies in the UK called in administrators.
16 Feb 2007 10:13

Chinese aircraft demand to triple

Any idea that consumers with a guilty conscience might be tempted to cut down on faraway holidays to help save the planet has been dealt a severe blow by revelations about Chinese air traffic expansion.
15 Feb 2007 15:49

Sales and profits less sweet at Sugar’s Amstrad

Sales of Amstrad’s quirky telephone e-mailer have topped half a million the company reported today as it unveiled its interim financial results.
15 Feb 2007 12:11

Spirits lift at Diageo

Guiness brewer Diageo today increased its profits outlook for the year on the back of soaring US Scotch sales.
15 Feb 2007 9:44

Tomkins profits hit as it pursues low cost relocation and lean manufacturing

The troubled US car market has hit profits at engineering group Tomkins as it continues its programme of switching operations to low cost economies from China to India and implementing lean manufacturing.
15 Feb 2007 11:41

'Be afraid' warns leading designer

Tough times lie ahead for the design industry due to threat of emerging markets.
14 Feb 2007 12:08

Carr’s highlights profit concerns

Carr’s Milling Industries is expecting a reduction in profit compared to the previous year.
14 Feb 2007 11:53

Manufacturing jobs fall by 63,000

The number of manufacturing jobs in the three months to December 2006 was 3.02 million; down 63,000 on the same period a year earlier.
14 Feb 2007 15:53

Manufacturing pay settlements fall

Manufacturing pay settlements fell to 2.9 per cent in January according to new figures published today.
14 Feb 2007 15:47

Smurfit to float

Europe's largest manufacturer of paper-based packaging products said today it is to float on the Irish Stock Exchange, raising around €1.3 billion (£870m).
14 Feb 2007 16:20

Inflation falls in January

The cost of products from the food and beverage manufacturing sector the lower cost of fuel and oil helped push so-called CPI annual inflation – the Government's target measure – down from three per cent in December to 2.7 per cent in January.
13 Feb 2007 14:54

Aerospace investment arrives amid growing pressure at Airbus

Amid growing fears that a review of operations by the European Airbus consortium could threaten British jobs, the Government announced this morning it was to invest in a £17.4 million project to provide computer technology to bring the next generation of aircraft into production in the UK.
12 Feb 2007 11:13

McBride plans clean up in Italy

Personal care products manufacturer McBride plc has reported a modest boost in half year sales and profits and announced the acquisition of Italian household cleansing products company Dasty Italia SpA.
12 Feb 2007 9:14

SME manufacturing growth hits 10 year high

Manufacturing output and total orders among smaller firms have risen at their fastest rate in over a decade, according to new research published today.
12 Feb 2007 10:30

Alexandra shares fall on profits warning

Workwear and corporate uniform supplier Alexandra plc saw its share value plummet 12 per cent this morning after issuing a profits warning.
09 Feb 2007 8:22

Government calls on manufacturers to sign 'skills pledge'

Manufacturers are being urged to make a ‘skills pledge’ to train all staff to Level Two, giving them certified competence in the workplace and the literacy, numeracy and employability skills for progression.
09 Feb 2007 12:34

Polish plumbers are a manufacturing myth

Britain’s manufacturers are far from convinced that their salvation lies in the recruitment of migrant EU workers.
09 Feb 2007 10:03

Chemical firm increases profit by 8 per cent

In financial figures released today, Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) has announced an underlying profit rise of eight per cent.
08 Feb 2007 12:07

GSK delivers strong 2006 performance

Pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline put in a “strong performance” in 2006, reporting a healthy pipeline of new treatments but admitting that sales of HIV drugs had fallen.
08 Feb 2007 16:30

Manufacturers welcome interest rate freeze

Manufacturers breathed a sigh of relief today as interest rates remained on hold at their five-year high of 5.25 per cent.
08 Feb 2007 16:31

Reckitt Benckiser cleans up

Reckitt Benckiser exceeds financial targets through yet another strong year.
08 Feb 2007 11:05

Success for Rolls-Royce

Rolls-Royce increases revenue by 13 per cent according to financial figures released today.
08 Feb 2007 9:24

Unilever’s improvement process pays off

Unilever announces full year financials for 2006
08 Feb 2007 11:39

North leads UK manufacturing upturn

The north of England led an encouraging pick-up in new orders and output in UK manufacturing in the three months to January, according to the CBI.
07 Feb 2007 9:25

Output figures boost manufacturing

Manufacturing output remained broadly unchanged in the fourth quarter of 2006 compared with the third quarter of 2006, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), completing a year that saw the highest annual rise in output since 2004
07 Feb 2007 10:52

Car industry could be hit by 18 per cent CO2 cut

The European Commission is to propose forcing car manufacturers to cut CO2 emission from the average car by 18 per cent by 2012, Reuters news agency has reported
06 Feb 2007 11:34

Profits up again at Toyota

Japanese carmaker Toyota has said it is set for an eighth year of record earnings, after reporting a 19 per cent rise in profit for the last quarter of 2006.
06 Feb 2007 10:29

UPS keeps Airbus waiting as it orders from Boeing

US delivery firm UPS has ordered 27 freight aircraft from Boeing but is still reviewing its order for 10 specially adapted Airbus A380s.
06 Feb 2007 14:06

1000-plus ex Rover workers still jobless claims union

A damning report on the fate of almost 6000 ex-MG Rover workers published today claims that a quarter of them are still without work while others have had to trade their £22,000 a year car-worker salaries for jobs paying only the minimum wage.
05 Feb 2007 15:35

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