News from the 27th June- 1st July 2022

Renishaw announces investment of over £50 million for UK manufacturing site

Global engineering company, Renishaw, is to invest over £50 million at its Miskin site in South Wales to increase manufacturing capacity and to help meet its Net Zero emissions targets. This will see 400,000 sq ft (37,000 sq metres) of additional low carbon buildings created at the 193-acre site to the west of Cardiff, consisting of two new production halls and an employee welfare facility. The existing production halls will also be refurbished to reduce their greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Planning permission for the detailed plans to almost double the footprint of the site, which was acquired by Renishaw in 2011 and currently accommodates 650 employees, was granted by the Vale of Glamorgan Council last year. With the company continuing to see strong business growth and have confidence in its long-term prospects, those plans will now be realised.

https://www.renishaw.com/en/renishaw-announces-investment-of-over-gbps50-million-for-uk-manufacturing-site--47440

Equinor and SSE Thermal to buy Saltend power station for £341m

A £341 million deal for the gas-fired power station at Saltend has been agreed, with Equinor and SSE Thermal uniting - kickstarting work on building the Humber's hydrogen economy.

The energy giants are advancing their role in the cleaning up the UK's most carbon-intensive industrial cluster, with the buyout of the 1.2GW plant east of Hull.

It will see preparations begin for the use of hydrogen, produced from natural gas by Equinor, on a neighbouring site soon to be realised.

Triton Power, the business under which it operates, is currently owned by US-based Energy Capital Partners, a power-focused infrastructure investor.
It is the latest joint venture from the British and Norwegian multinationals, with developments at Keadby on the South Bank and plans for hydrogen storage at Aldbrough, East Yorkshire.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/economic-development/equinor-sse-thermal-buy-saltend-24339195

UK-built Forum satellite will measure greenhouse effect

A spacecraft measuring Earth’s warming ‘greenhouse’ effect in its greatest ever detail will be built in the UK.

The Forum satellite will be assembled by aerospace giant Airbus at its factory in Stevenage.

It will monitor far-infrared radiation coming up from our planet’s surface.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-61970370

News from the 6th – 13th May

Work starts on £60m development of derelict Peterborough site for Crown Bevcan that will create 280 jobs

Work has started on a £60 million development to build a drinks can manufacturing centre in Peterborough.

The state-of-the-art manufacturing hub will be built on the 30 acre derelict former Mars Petcare site in Shrewsbury Avenue, Woodston, and once completed is expected to create 280 jobs.

The work to create what will be called Delta Park, is being undertaken by site owners Trebor Developments, which secured planning approval from Peterborough City Council for the project in March.

https://www.peterboroughtoday.co.uk/news/people/work-starts-on-ps60-million-development-of-derelict-peterborough-site-for-crown-bevcan-that-will-create-280-jobs-3681464

£350m Vivergo Fuels plant returns to production to feed forecourt demand for greener pumps

Hull’s £350 million biofuels plant is producing again.

The huge Vivergo operation at Saltend Chemicals Park was mothballed in 2018, as legislation lagged on higher volume blends in road fuels

September saw Westminster finally implement the long-sought uplift, with the ethanol content increased from five to 10 per cent at the pumps.
It was a move a decade in the making, and the February 2021 announcement prompted AB Sugar to bring the 750,000 tonne capacity plant back.

Now in the final throes of commissioning, with a significant spend, first shipments have left the site, having built a team up from a skeleton 15 left to supervise the sprawling facility to 100.

https://www.business-live.co.uk/manufacturing/350m-vivergo-fuels-plant-returns-23880833

British rocket company Orbex reveals first full-scale micro-launcher rocket

British rocket company Orbex has unveiled the first full-scale prototype of the Prime orbital space rocket on its dedicated launch pad publicly for the first time.

The unveiling of the first of a new generation of European launch vehicles – designed to launch a new category of very small satellites to orbit – represents a major step forward for the British rocket company as it prepares for the first ever vertical rocket launch to orbit from UK soil. Orbex´s Prime rocket is the first ‘micro-launcher’ developed in Europe to reach this stage of technical readiness.

With the first full integration of the Orbex rocket on a launch pad now complete, the company is able to enter a period of integrated testing, allowing dress rehearsals of rocket launches and the development and optimisation of launch procedures. Orbex recently revealed their first test launch platform at a new test facility in Kinloss, a few miles from the company’s headquarters at Forres in Moray, Scotland.

https://www.themanufacturer.com/articles/orbex-reveals-first-full-scale-microlauncher-rocket-developed-in-europe/

News from the 22nd - 29th March 2022

UK’s first full-sized autonomous bus hits the road

The UK’s first full-sized self-driving bus will take to the roads this week as part of a government-sponsored autonomous vehicle project.

The Project CAVForth pilot, which is funded by the UK government’s Centre for Connected and Autonomous Vehicles (CCAV), will see five single-deck autonomous buses – each manned by a safety driver – operate in and around the Edinburgh region over the next two weeks.

Bus firm Stagecoach, in partnership with technology company Fusion Processing, bus manufacturer Alexander Dennis, and Transport Scotland, will carry out initial passenger less on-road testing in preparation for the launch of a passenger service this summer.

https://cities-today.com/uks-first-full-sized-autonomous-bus-hits-the-road/

A quarter of car buyers want to buy British to help the motor industry after Covid and the supply crunch, study claims

Car buyers say they are more likely than ever to buy British in a bid to help the industry recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Buyers are also feeling more inclined to purchase made in Britain models in the hope they can get their hands on vehicles quicker by leapfrogging to the front of the long order queues, as car makers continue to have their outputs limited by parts supply issues.

https://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/cars/article-10755531/Quarter-car-buyers-likely-buy-British-help-UK-motor-industry.html

UK car production drops as firms struggle to get parts

Car production in the UK has continued to fall as manufacturers struggle with global supply chain problems. Almost 100,000 fewer cars were built in the first three months of 2022 compared to last year. Manufacturing has dropped by nearly a third, according to the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT). The SMMT linked the decline to a global shortage of computer chips and rising energy costs for manufacturers.

During the first three months of the year, a total of 207,347 new cars were built in the UK, down from 306,558 in the same three months in 2021, when the pandemic created added pressures for manufacturers.

Manufacturers have been struggling to get hold of the parts they need - in particular semiconductors, or computer chips, which are widely used on modern vehicles.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-61248689