Each day The Manufacturer compiles the top manufacturing news stories from around the web. To make your life a little easier, we trawl through all the major trade publications, broadsheets and business magazines to find you the most important manufacturing news each morning. Don't forget to bookmark this page and check back daily.
Hotter Shoes owner races to secure funding to avert collapse
The London-listed company Unbound Group is facing having to call in administrators if it cannot raise up to £2m from a share sale in the coming days.
Sky News has reported that the owner of Hotter Shoes is racing to secure emergency funding in an attempt to avoid falling into administration. The board of Unbound Group is trying to raise up to £2m within days to pave the way for the implementation of a restructuring plan.
City sources warned that unless funding was forthcoming “in the near future”, Unbound’s board would have little choice but to call in administrators. Read more via Sky News
Cummins’ Darlington Engine Plant celebrates first natural gas engine
Cummins’ Darlington Engine Plant has celebrated the production of its first L9N engine, the first natural gas engine produced at the UK plant in its 58-year history.
The L9N can operate on compressed or liquified natural gas as well as renewable natural gas, which significantly reduces well-to-wheels carbon emissions. Read more via The Manufacturer
Renishaw opens new Gloucestershire STEM Centre
Gloucestershire-based engineering technologies company, Renishaw, has opened a new science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) Outreach facility at its headquarters site in New Mills, Gloucestershire, UK. The STEM Centre will strengthen Renishaw’s existing education outreach efforts, by providing a dedicated space for local schoolchildren to visit to learn more about STEM subjects and associated careers. Read more via Renishaw
Medtech innovator accelerates manufacture of ground-breaking cancer treatment
A medtech innovator has accelerated its R&D and manufacture of its ground-breaking cancer treatment, after funding from Innovate UK’s Analysis for Innovators (A4I) programme.
LightOx, based in Newcastle, has developed a UK-first early-stage mouth cancer treatment using light-activated chemotherapy.
The treatment involves a gel being applied to the affected area and the drug activated with light. It is undergoing preclinical testing, is quick, simple and non-invasive with fewer side effects than surgery and significantly improves the overall patient experience. Read more via The Manufacturer
BAE Systems secures £280m MOD order
BAE Systems has secured new orders for the supply of munitions to the UK Ministry of Defence (MOD). The orders, worth £280m, with the option to increase to more than £400m, will create more than 200 new jobs in the North of England and South Wales, boosting the Company’s 1,200-strong UK munitions workforce. Read more via BAE Systems
School children design cars of the future with government minister
Primary school children recently took part in a Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) morning hosted by the Advanced Propulsion Centre UK, where they were given the chance to design their ‘car of the future’ alongside Minister for Industry and Investment Security Nusrat Ghani. Read more via The Manufacturer
Liberty Steel wins Dunaferr bidding process
Liberty Steel has won the bidding process for Hungarian steelmaker Dunaferr.
The company was the successful bidder through its subsidiary Liberty Steel Central Europe Kft, with a bid of €55m ($60.5m).
Dunaferr went into liquidation in December last year, after the Hungarian government amended its bankruptcy code to enable a sale of the asset. Read more via Argus Media
Falcon soars with another new Alexander Dennis Enviro200
Alexander Dennis has announced that it has delivered a further Enviro200 single decker to Falcon Coaches, taking the operator’s fleet of the type to 34.
The new low-emission bus was handed over to the independent Surrey operator at Alexander Dennis’s local facility in Farnborough, which opened last year as the manufacturer’s new hub in the south of England. Read more via Alexander Dennis
Foxconn: Apple supplier drops out of $20bn India factory plan
Apple supplier Foxconn has pulled out of a $19.5bn (£15.2bn) deal with Indian mining giant Vedanta to build a chip making plant in the country.
The move comes less than a year after the companies announced plans to set up the facility in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s home state of Gujarat.
Some analysts say it marks a setback to the nation’s technology industry goals.
However, a government minister says it will have no impact on the country’s chip making ambitions. Read more via BBC News
