The Manufacturer Podcast: From The Manufacturer Live!

The fourth episode of our Leadership Series comes from The Manufacturer Live, which we delivered this week in Liverpool.

Our recording comes from The Manufacturer Studio on day two of The Manufacturing Leaders’ Summit, the annual gathering of the industrial elite, with leaders, senior executives and decision-makers representing all industries across the manufacturing sector.

We discuss our thoughts following day one of the summit, as well as our duties over the two days, which included hosting panel discussions and capturing the mood of delegates in the room.

We also express our supreme excitement for The Manufacturer MX Awards, which for another year, recognised the remarkable achievements of companies and individuals within the sector.

Listen on to hear from the overall winners; our SME winner was Evtec Automotive, and our Manufacturer of the Year was Siemens Congleton.

Away from the event, we focus momentarily on the recognition of The Royal Mint’s precious metals recovery programme, and the revised all electric plans of Bentley Motors.

Follow the leaders

Now in its 17th year, the award-winning Manufacturing Leaders’ Summit is a catalyst for transformation, covering the topics most pertinent to manufacturing leaders alongside economic and market factors, operational challenges and organisation challenges.

This year’s event had amplified focus on practical solutions and industry-leading insights, the highest calibre of speakers, more case studies and interactive sessions with polls, more networking opportunities and deeper dives into the technologies shaping the future of the sector.

The Oscars of UK manufacturing

TMMX Awards exist to encourage, benchmark and celebrate manufacturing excellence, with every stage of the programme providing value for participants, regardless of their excellence maturity.

With TMMX Awards categories ranging from recognition in innovation and sustainability, through to digitalisation, leadership and staff engagement, there are plenty of opportunities for UK industrial businesses of all sizes and sectors to be recognised.

Manufacturers are achieving amazing things against a backdrop of challenging circumstances, as such, there’s never been a better time to shine a light on industry success, and for the sector to take centre stage.

Mint with e-waste

The Royal Mint’s innovative precious metals recovery partnership with Excir (Canada) has been recognised by the Government of Canada at the G7 Summit as an example of cross-country collaboration, advancing global critical minerals resilience.

Since 2022, The Royal Mint has partnered with Excir to scale up the company’s world-first technology at its purpose-built Reformation Metals facility in south Wales, UK. The process extracts valuable metals such as gold, silver, and platinum from end-of-life electronics such as mobile phones, TVs and laptops, supporting both nations’ ambitions for a circular economy.

Bentley revises EV plans

The announcement changes Bentley’s initial plans to go electric-only by 2035, and forms part of the brand’s Beyond100+ strategy.

It confirmed that it will continue selling cars like the Continental GT and Flying Spur until at least 2035, and possibly beyond that point. This will ultimately be driven by customer demand, and Bentley says its customers have shown considerable interest in its plug-in hybrid offerings.

Bentley also gave a first look at its maiden, still unnamed EV, which it brands as “the world’s first true luxury urban SUV.” It also shared a teaser shot of the finished production model hiding under a partly see-through cover, which reveals it will have horizontal daytime running lights and taillights.

The car will be equipped with industry-leading technology that includes the capability of charging from 0 – 100 miles in less than seven minutes.  Development of the car continues at pace with pre-series, or prototype, vehicles embarking on a global performance programme.