News Archive

Manufacturing news

July 2008

Economy hits Tata profits

Tata Motors has reported a dramatic 30 per cent drop in profits as a result of poor exchange rates and rising input prices.
31 Jul 2008 15:10

Cadbury sales grow

Cadbury has announced a 28 per cent profit rise for the first half of the year, taking the total to £143 million.
30 Jul 2008 15:50

EADS to make further cost cuts

EADS has announced plans to extend its Power8 restructuring programme in the hope of making further cost cuts.
30 Jul 2008 12:00

GSK to cut Angus jobs

GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has announced it is to axe 55 jobs at its Montrose site in Angus, with a further 70 temporary roles set to be phased out during the remainder of the year.
30 Jul 2008 16:58

BAE makes Detica takeover offer

Defence giant BAE Systems has made a £531 million offer to buy security technology firm Detica.
28 Jul 2008 10:41

Cains Brewery facing tax action

Cains Brewery, which produces the official beer of the 2008 Liverpool European Capital of Culture year, has been faced with the possibility of closure due to unpaid tax.
28 Jul 2008 14:51

Northern Foods to create biscuit “super site”

Northern Foods has announced a planned investment of £40 million which will involve the merging of two Fox’s Biscuits sites into one so-called “super site”.
28 Jul 2008 12:19

Packaging growth levels out to meet Courtauld Commitment

The UK grocery sector is on target to meet self-imposed waste food and packaging targets, as per the Courtauld Commitment, despite a 1.8 per cent sector growth and a 0.5 per cent population growth year-on-year.
28 Jul 2008 16:50

Tata to jump start Daimler?

There is suggestion that Tata Motors is looking to revive Daimler – a marque it acquired as part of a $2.3 billion Ford luxury brand purchase.
28 Jul 2008 11:05

Unilever begins CEO search

Unilever, the firm responsible for such brands as Persil and Dove, has commenced its search for a new chief executive following news that current CEO Patrick Cescau is to step down.
28 Jul 2008 11:34

Rise in vocational training staves off skills shortage fears

Fears that the UK manufacturing industry will be left with a large void in skilled workers in the coming years were appeased yesterday as education foundation Edge revealed an eight per cent rise in vocational qualifications last year.
24 Jul 2008 13:26

Rolls-Royce confident after healthy profit rise

Rolls-Royce appears to be weathering the economic storm after achieving a three per cent rise in pre-tax profits and a 17 per cent increase in new orders for the first half of 2008.
24 Jul 2008 15:59

Strong praise for UK automotive at motor show

Lord Digby-Jones, Minister of State for trade and former director of the CBI, has hailed the UK automotive sector as “the best in the world”.
24 Jul 2008 10:29

Syngenta to expand Grangemouth operations

Agricultural fungicide producer Syngenta is to create 50 new jobs at its Grangemouth site as part of a £75 million investment.
24 Jul 2008 15:13

Business confidence takes hard knock

Business confidence has fallen for the fourth quarter in a row to its lowest level since October 2001, according to the latest CBI Industrial Trends survey published today.
23 Jul 2008 13:42

Talks begin to save Scottish dyeing firm

Representatives of Langholm Dyeing Company, which fell into administration last week, have entered into emergency talks with members of local council and government and Scottish Enterprise in attempt to save the firm.
23 Jul 2008 15:46

TES makes engineering investment

Cookstown, County Tyrone-based engineering firm TES (NI) is to invest £4.4 million in upgrading its facilities and equipment, which is also to result in the creation of 45 new jobs.
23 Jul 2008 15:27

UK plant touted as electric car manufacturing HQ

A Vauxhall factory in Merseyside is being considered by General Motors for the European production base of its much anticipated electric model, the Volt.
23 Jul 2008 11:21

Witty announces new direction for GSK

Newly assigned chief executive of GlaxoSmithKline Andrew Witty has delivered his plans for the future of the firm, which include ramping up cost saving initiatives and increasing the focus on consumer products.
23 Jul 2008 16:00

Farnborough hailed a success

This year’s Farnborough Airshow has proved a success despite pessimistic predictions, with list price orders for Boeing and Airbus alone reaching a massive $50 billion.
22 Jul 2008 11:43

Food sector commended for lowering salt intake

The Food Standards Agency has praised food producers for their part in lowering the nation’s daily salt consumption by almost ten per cent since the turn of the millennium.
22 Jul 2008 14:53

Mass production of non-food biofuel for cars within two years

A chemical and oil-product manufacturer claims that within two years it will commercially produce and supply a bio-ethanol fuel made from household rubbish.
22 Jul 2008 13:55

Small food producers 'choked' by training regulation

A group of small and medium-sized food and drink manufacturers have accused the government of suffocating the sector’s staff of skills through needless red tape and unnecessary legislation.
21 Jul 2008 15:26

Unilever offload olive oil production

Unilever has announced that it will license out the vinegar and olive oil production of its Bertolli brand to the Spanish Grupo SOS in a proposed €630 million (£500 million) transaction.
21 Jul 2008 11:47

Wind to blow new life into UK manufacturing

The world’s largest wind turbine is to be unveiled today on the North-east coast amid calls across the manufacturing industry to look to renewable energy to revitalise the sector.
21 Jul 2008 10:36

Icon Polymer wins Warrior contract

Icon Polymer has been awarded a major contract to mould rubber on to 14,000 British Army Warrior fighting vehicle wheels.
18 Jul 2008 8:52

Israeli pharmaceutical firm buys out US rival

The Israeli pharmaceutical manufacturing giant Teva has agreed a takeover of its US competitor Barr in a deal worth $7.5 billion (£3.75 billion), it announced today.
18 Jul 2008 14:33

Mobile phone maker call job cuts

Mobile phone manufacturer Sony Ericsson are the latest firm to announce worldwide job cuts as they look to recuperate losses incurred by the challenging global economic climate.
18 Jul 2008 16:47

Oxford produces millionth MINI

BMW Plant Oxford has now seen over one million MINIs leave its base destined for foreign export.
18 Jul 2008 10:00

Publisher saves Butler and Tanner

Somerset printing firm Butler and Tanner which closed in April is to be reopened under new ownership, with a third of jobs restored.
17 Jul 2008 10:43

Teesside chemical plants to close

Saudi-Arabian chemical firm Sabic has announced the closure of two of its Teesside plants with the loss of almost 200 jobs.
17 Jul 2008 10:53

Continental facing takeover prospect

Tyre firm Continental has received an 11.3 billion euro (8.9 billion) takeover offer from automotive and aerospace component manufacturer Schaeffler.
16 Jul 2008 15:04

Volkswagen chooses Chattanooga

Volkswagen (VW) has chosen Chattanooga, Tennessee, as the location for its new manufacturing facility. The decision is likely to provide $1 billion (£498 million) into the local economy.
16 Jul 2008 15:52

JCB to cut 650 UK jobs

JCB has announced plans to shed 500 manufacturing and 150 other jobs across its UK sites due to a significant decline in demand and the resulting 20 per cent decrease in 2008 production forecast.
15 Jul 2008 8:50

Pharmaceutical firm suspended from UK practice

International pharmaceutical manufacturer Roche Pharma, which has bases in East Sussex and Hertfordshire, has been suspended from practice in the UK for a minimum of six months by the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI).
15 Jul 2008 9:24

InBev finally seal the deal for Anheuser-Busch

The Belgium-based brewer InBev who make Stella, Becks, Hoegaarden and Staropramen, have finally agreed a “historic” takeover of Anheuser-Busch, the US producer of Budweiser.
14 Jul 2008 9:55

Record rise for double-digit output prices

The latest figures from the Office for National Statistics shows factory gate inflation registered a record rise of 10 per cent in the year to June, as cost rises reached double figures for the first time since records began.
14 Jul 2008 12:10

Eco Elise project boosts Lotus’s green credentials

Lotus has unveiled its new Eco Elise – a ‘green’ project which looks beyond the usual tailpipe CO₂ emissions, instead taking into account all aspects of environmental performance.
10 Jul 2008 12:00

UK jobs under threat as Pentagon scraps military contract

The Pentagon has torn up the US Air Force (USAF) defence deal which had been awarded to Airbus and partner company Northrop Grumman, putting 11,000 British jobs at risk.
10 Jul 2008 10:36

Euro car firms cooperate to cut costs and crack the US

Fiat and BMW are reportedly set to enter into a cooperative partnership to benefit from economies of scale in production and research and development. The move will concern Fiat’s Alfa Romeo lines and the BMW-owned Mini.
09 Jul 2008 9:39

Manufacturing: a beacon amid recession

The Times has named manufacturing as the sector most capable of standing up to the current economic gloom.
09 Jul 2008 12:02

'Food Matters' report promises support for UK food production

The Cabinet office today released findings from a ten-month food policy investigation and promised to help UK food manufacturers in their fight towards healthier and more sustainable produce.
07 Jul 2008 17:41

AB Automotive to shed 157 jobs

Car climate control system manufacturer AB Automotive has announced it is to close its Cardiff site, which will result in 157 redundancies.
07 Jul 2008 16:18

BMW workers celebrate new qualifications

BMW Hams Hall has been the venue for an event celebrating the first wave of employees to have gained manufacturing qualifications as part of a partnership training initiative with Blue Arrow and Sutton Coldfield College.
07 Jul 2008 10:54

Manufacturers ditch holidays to ride through recession

Manufacturing industry executives across the sector are cutting holidays, working longer and taking on bigger loads as they attempt to make themselves ‘recession proof’ – so says a survey by the Chartered Management Institute released today.
07 Jul 2008 9:21

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