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.
VCS invests £5m in UK’s largest ambulance and police vehicle factory
VCS, the UK’s leading manufacturer of emergency services vehicles, will invest more than £5m in a new manufacturing facility for ambulances, police, and specialist vehicle conversions in Bradford this April.
The new factory will ensure the UK’s supply of world-class emergency vehicles by creating the country’s largest dedicated manufacturing facility and trebling VCS’s current production capacity to nearly 1500 vehicles annually. Read more via The Manufacturer
UK private sector returns to growth in February
UK private sector firms signalled a solid rebound in business activity during February, which ended a sixmonth period of falling output. Both the manufacturing and service sectors achieved a return to growth, with the latter posting the faster rate of expansion.
Production volumes in the manufacturing sector increased for the first time since June 2022, although the pace of expansion was only modest. Read more via S&P Global
Aurrigo International plc signs formal partnership agreement with Changi Airport Group
Aurrigo International plc, a leading international provider of transport technology solutions, has signed a formal partnership agreement with Changi Airport Group (Singapore) Pte Ltd for the continued joint development and testing of the company’s autonomous vehicles, Auto-Dolly and Auto-DollyTug and its airport simulation software platform Auto-Sim. Read more via The Manufacturer
Dairy product manufacturer to base UK operations in Telford
A New Zealand dairy product company has opened its UK base in Telford, as it looks to grow in the agricultural market.
MilktechNZ, which creates customised milking equipment, has invested £200,000 into its new facility at the Agri–EPI Centre in Newport, based at Harper Adams University. The firm currently boasts 42% of the New Zealand market but cannot produce the kit fast enough. Read more via The Business Desk
Johnson Matthey scoops Industrial Cooperation Partnership (ICP) Award for creation of UK-China Low Carbon Research Consortium
Johnson Matthey, a global leader in sustainable technologies, picked up the prestigious Industrial Cooperation Partnership (ICP) Award for the creation of the UK-China Low Carbon Research Consortium. The consortium, launched in 2022, sees the collaboration between JM and leading universities in the UK and China to share best practices and focus on how CO2 can be used in green bulk chemicals production in support of China’s sustainability goals. Read more via Johnson Matthey
Leema celebrates 25 years of UK manufacturing
Hand-made in Wales for a quarter of a century, Leema Acoustics has exciting plans for its celebratory year!
Leema Acoustics, respected Welsh Hi-Fi manufacturer, is celebrating 25 years of British-made audio equipment in 2023, with some exciting plans for the company’s celebratory year incorporating The Bristol Hi-Fi Show.
Originally founded in Wales in 1998 by two ex-BBC sound engineers, Lee Taylor and Mallory Nicholls (Lee-ma), the company has stayed true to its roots and remains one of a few British Hi-Fi companies committed to the time-proven benefits of UK hand-building. Read more via Essential Install
Bentley announces end to 12-cylinder engine production with the most powerful version yet
Bentley has announced that it will cease production of its 12-cylinder petrol engine in April 2024, by which time more than 100,000 examples of the iconic W12 will have been handcrafted in the company’s Dream Factory in Crewe, England.
The decision comes as part of Bentley’s acceleration towards a sustainable future through its Beyond100 strategy which will see the company’s entire model line fully electrified by the start of the next decade, reducing fleet average emissions to 0 g/km CO2. Read more via The Manufacturer
