Small to medium-sized (SME) manufacturers are being encouraged to have their say on trading beyond Brexit as part of the latest Manufacturing Barometer.
Organised by SWMAS (The South West Manufacturing Advisory Service) and the Manufacturing Growth Programme (MGP), the country’s largest survey of its kind is looking to find out how companies are coping with the early months of life after leaving the EU and the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The latest Contract Manufacturing Index showed that the subcontracting market was down 46% in the fourth quarter (Q4) of 2020 compared to the previous quarter. Year on year though the market barely moved, ending 2021 1% high than it ended 2020.
Those figures, though, conceal a volatile 12 months.
A strong start to the year was followed by a dramatic fall at the start of the March lockdown. A strong recovery followed in the summer, with activity falling back again from September.
Alucast’s commitment to investing in new technology and its people was praised during a recent visit by the Mayor of the West Midlands.
Andy Street received a socially distanced tour of the aluminium casting specialist’s facility in Wednesbury to understand how the company is bouncing back from Covid-19 by targeting new opportunities in lightweighting - a major growth market with castings at its heart.
Heat management specialist Zircotec is working with Dolphin N2 and Brighton University to develop a near-zero emission internal combustion engine that has the potential to transform the commercial powertrain market.
Zircotec provides the advanced thermal coatings and precision, ceramically coated components, along with its patented encapsulated heatshields that meet the very high demands of this recuperated split-cycle, next generation engine.
The French company UTAC CERAM and the British Millbrook group are to merge to create a new automotive testing and development organisation.
Both companies are key partners to automotive customers in Europe and around the world, and the merger will create a market leading group in vehicle testing, homologation and emerging technologies for autonomous, connected and electric vehicles.
The transaction is expected to be completed in the first quarter of 2021, subject to the normal regulatory clearances. This merger would double the Group's revenues.