News: Connexion2 acquired by Kings III of America

Connexion2, The Rotherham company that uses innovative technology solutions and associated services to improve the safety and productivity of lone workers, has been acquired by the US leading emergency communications company, Kings III of America.

The multi-million pound strategic move will strengthen the Dinnington firm's core business offerings on both sides of the Atlantic and see them target new geographies.

Connexion2 was launched in 2003, backed by investors including South Yorkshire Investment Fund, through its fund manager YFM Equity Partners who have supported the business throughout its development. Connexion2, which employs around 30 staff, developed and manufactures Identicom, which is now the UKs most widely deployed dedicated lone worker device. A unique communication device, Identicom offers discreet wear and comprehensive protection to a lone working user.

Connexion2 will retain its existing trading name and its SoloProtect brand-presence throughout the United Kingdom. Kings IIIs acquisition will help facilitate the further development of a number of key European & Asian markets as well as home US and Canadian markets, also using the SoloProtect brand.

Craig Swallow, Managing Director of Connexion2 commented: "We're delighted to announce Kings III's acquisition of Connexion2 as we believe this will enable us to provide our market leading lone worker solutions and customer support to a greater number of businesses.

"For a while now, Connexion2 has sought a strategic partnership that truly allows it to develop fully into other target geographic markets. I believe the partnership with Kings III will enable us to do this in the coming years."

Connexion2 was advised by Leeds based Sentio Corporate Finance, led by partners Will Arnold and Dave Irwin. The corporate team at Nabarro in Sheffield, led by Gareth Saynor and Elliot Jackson, provided legal advice.

Sentio Partner Will Arnold said: "Connexion2 is proud to develop technologically advanced products and services from its South Yorkshire base which have International applications and appeal. The transaction with Kings III represents a great strategic fit and will allow Connexion2 to build upon its market leading position and excellent customer base in the growing lone worker safety market."

Gareth Saynor, Corporate Partner at Nabarro, added: "Having worked with Connexion2 for a number of years, we are delighted for the shareholders and that the Company has found an excellent new home.  It's pleasing to see a quality South Yorkshire business go from launch to international success, with the support of local funders and advisors.

Connexion2 website

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News: Hargreaves sells Matby assets

Hargreaves Services plc, the owners of the Maltby Colliery site in Rotherham, has agreed the sale of certain coal mine methane (CMM) assets held at Maltby Colliery to Alkane Energy plc for up to £7.5m.

Underground operations ended in March at the Maltby site that occupies 500 acres and employed over 500 staff and contractors. It is the last coking coal mine left in the UK and produced both high quality coking coal and power station coal.

Without underground workings, Maltby will continue to trade with tiny coal particles called "fines" harvested and processed.

Hargreaves will receive an initial payment of £5.5m in cash on completion followed by up to a further £2m payable six months after the mine shafts have been filled and capped as part of Maltby's planned closure and restoration programme. It is anticipated that these tasks will be completed during the first half of 2014.

Mothballing of the underground operations at the 100 year old mine is expected to cost the company approximately £12.3m and with plant and equipment worth £34m, Hargreaves expects to realise £14m in its sale.

Gordon Banham, CEO of Hargreaves, commented: "We are pleased to announce this disposal. Alkane is well positioned to maximise the value of these assets and this has created the basis for a deal that is beneficial to both parties. This disposal constitutes an important step towards realising our asset disposal targets for Maltby, which we will seek to continue with the disposal of the underground assets in due course."

Maltby has reserves of an estimated 11.6 billion cubic feet of coal mine methane, which Alkane will use to generate electricity.

Neil O’Brien, Chief Executive Officer of Alkane, commented: “This latest acquisition consolidates Alkane’s market leading position in CMM and it adds significantly to the Group’s core CMM operating capacity and provides an opportunity to further develop our Power Response business."

Hargreaves website
Alkane website

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News: Gripple provide the spark

Young graduates, currently trainees at the Sheffield manufacturer, Gripple, are aiming to contest girls’ perception that manufacturing is a "boys' subject."

Frances Davis and Susan Ramsden recently addressed 100 13-year-old girls at Aston Academy in Rotherham where they explained how revolutionary design, engineering and manufacturing have been, and continue to be, instrumental in Gripple becoming a world beater.

Gripple is the market-leading innovative manufacturer of wire joiners and tensioners and wire-rope hangers.

The young engineers also launched a challenge to re-design their workstation, the reward for the winning designers being a visit to the multi award-winning innovator.

From 20 entries, Frances and Susan selected ten winners, who saw their ideas turned into reality at Gripple. Their tour started at the company’s Ideas and Innovation department, based at The Hog Works, also home of the company’s sister company, Loadhog where they saw their suggestions at the design stage. This was followed by a prototyping session at Gripple’s head office – The Old West Gun Works - where the students were able to make use of Gripple facilities and materials to create their winning workstation designs.

Following the tour Frances and Susan said: “We were both impressed with the girls’ enthusiasm and commitment in identifying problems and difficulties in existing workstations and in seeing their ideas brought to life – albeit in prototype form – and that engineers will use them to create actual sized working tables. We aimed to give the winners an insight into product development, design and prototyping and that they will spread the word to their peers about the joys of innovative manufacturing.”

Gripple website

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News: Finance Yorkshire invests in RediRack

Rotherham based RediRack, the creator of the world’s first adjustable frame and beam pallet racking, has received a significant investment from Finance Yorkshire.

RediRack will use the funds to accelerate the ground breaking Innovation Centre at their head offices at Kilnhurst, creating much needed jobs in the area.

Finance Yorkshire provide seedcorn, loan and equity linked investments, ranging from £15,000 to £2m, specifically to help small and medium sized businesses meet the gaps in the market for the funding they need for growth and development.

Andrew Forsythe, Group Managing Director said “I’m thrilled to receive this investment from Finance Yorkshire.  Here at RediRack we pride ourselves on our heritage a British manufacturer that supplies a product that is internationally recognised for quality and excellence and a market leading force for technology in our industry, we have hundreds of years’ experience in our business and fully utilise that as we continue to be award winning innovators in the storage and handling industry.”

Mr. Forsythe added: “Our commitment to the logistics industry is second to none and this investment will allow us to fast track some of our innovation products, keeping RediRack at the top of our industry.”

Ian Howson, Finance Yorkshire Investment Manager, said: “RediRack is an innovative and fast growing company with exciting plans for future development. It is looking grow its facility in South Yorkshire, which will increase employment opportunities in the area and become a centre of excellence in the creation of new exciting products.

“All these initiatives make it an ideal company for a Business Loan from Finance Yorkshire as we work with RediRack to help deliver its plans successfully.”

Finance Yorkshire has attracted £30m investment from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), £15m from Yorkshire Forward's Single Programme, and £45m match funding from the European Investment Bank.

http://www.redirack.co.uk/index.php

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News: Heritage regeneration to continue in Rotherham town centre

A heritage-led regeneration scheme on the High Street in Rotherham town centre is set to continue as funding is secured for another year.

The £3m Townscape Heritage Initiative (THI) is supported by funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) and Rotherham Borough Council. The Rotherham District Civic Society raised concerns that the lottery cash was under threat but £1.4m has been carried over in the council's capital budget for this financial year.

The project sees property owners and long term lease holders secure grants enabling them to restore, renovate and repair their historic buildings which are all within a conservation area. The aim is to encourage new shops, apartments and businesses to locate in the town centre.

A report to the council's cabinet said: "Spend on the project had been deferred pending a decision from the Heritage Lottery Fund that they would extend grant payment beyond the original agreed period. Confirmation of the decision to grant the Council an extension was received at the end of March and the project can now be completed."

Funding has also been approved for improvements to the public realm on the High Street and around the Minster.

One key project is halfway through a successful rehabilitation. Local businessman, Chris Hamby announced ambitious plans for a complex of mixed-used retail outlets focusing on listed buildings on the High Street.

The plan is backed by a £750,000 long term capital finance loan from Rotherham Council that has secured £677,000 of Heritage Lottery Funding (HLF) for additional, much needed works to the listed buildings.

Hamby opened an outlet for ladies and gents footwear, handbags and leather goods at 19 High Street with Sophisticakes upmarket tea room at No. 17. Work is now taking place in No. 21 for "Things That Boys Like" bringing men's clothing, gadgets and gifts to the town as an offshoot from sister store, Yella Brick Road.

Plans have also been approved for a comprehensive refurbishment of the Georgian Town House, that now contains the remains of the Italian restaurant at 29A High Street. It was once occupied by the Badger family, a notable family of solicitors and lawyers. A new Victorian shop frontage and Doric door will be installed with the upper floors converted into flats.

Work is also progressing on the grade 2 listed George Wright building, an early 19th century former office built in a Tudor Revival style. It requires a new roof, new windows and some of the brickwork needs replacing.

The building was famously occupied by George Wright & Company in the 1800's who designed and manufactured elaborate stoves and fireplaces. It is hopefully set to open as a pub and restaurant.

Work is also needed on the former Three Cranes Inn that occupied a timber framed building dating back to the 15th Century. The grade 2* listed building is on English Heritage's "at risk register" as showing signs of structural decay and faulty rainwater goods.



Images: Tom Austen

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News: Apprentices impress at Horner Brothers

Rotherham print group, Horner Brothers, has taken on more staff with LifeSkills.

The Templeborough company took on two new Apprentices from LifeSkills as part of National Apprenticeship Week 2013. It follows on from the success of the first two candidates; Laura Lindley and James Gray, who have continued to work for Horner Brothers as full-time employees after completing their apprenticeships. They both work as office support staff, Laura is a purchasing assistant and James is a batching operative.

Horner Brothers celebrated its 30th anniversary last year. It has a state of the art printing facility and backs this up with managed print solutions, artwork database management and advanced online ordering solutions. It works with a number of high profile customers that includes Centrica, BT and Tesco.

Rotherham born managing director, Spencer Fearn, developed Lifeskills in London and the South East and opened a Rotherham training centre in the town centre in 2010. The national company specialises in providing opportunities for young people to break into the world of training and employment.

Continuing to support apprentices, Horner offered positions for production support staff. Courtney Averton and Connor Robinson began a trial week at Horner Brother in March. After completing the week and impressing bosses with their work they were both offered apprenticeship positions.

A spokesperson for the company said: "Horner Brothers is proud to promote our Investors in People award through supporting young workers and the continuous development of all our staff. We will continue to provide ongoing support to our apprentices to develop them to their maximum potential!"

Horner Brothers website
Lifeskills website

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News: Nnuman puts machining processes under the microscope

The £8m Nnuman project is now underway, with the first machined samples from the Nuclear AMRC in Rotherham undergoing microstructural analysis at the Dalton Nuclear Institute at The University of Manchester.

With funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the New nuclear manufacturing (Nnuman) project centres on promoting research and development and significant work on the fundamentals of manufacturing for new nuclear new build and the next generation of power stations.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park, The £25m Nuclear AMRC is a joint initiative between the University of Sheffield, The University of Manchester, and a consortium of industry partners. It assists UK companies to successfully compete in the emerging £40 billion civil nuclear supply chain.

The universities of Manchester and Sheffield have been working with industrial partners on a number of machining and welding projects with new research on ceramic and metallic nuclear fuel components and hot isostatic pressing about to start.

In one of the core machining projects, materials specialists at the Dalton Nuclear Institute's Manufacturing Technology Research Laboratory are carrying out detailed micro-structural examination of specimens produced at the Nuclear AMRC. The samples are ferritic and austenitic steels which have been machined more harshly than usual.

This machining abuse can cause deformation and residual stresses, which can lead to localised corrosion between and within metal grains. This can then form cracks, which can grow over many years under the thermal and mechanical stresses of a reactor environment. Ultimately, the component may need to be repaired or replaced long before the end of the reactor’s planned life.

Professor Grace Burke, director of the Materials Performance Centre at The University of Manchester is leading the project that aims to identify the machining factors that can result in long-term problems. She said: "Microstructure controls the properties and behaviour of materials. It is essential that we understand the effects of machining on the surface and near-surface microstructure and, importantly, how these relate to the performance of the component in light water reactor environments."

New equipment is being installed at the Nuclear AMRC to help researchers. This includes a large hot isostatic pressing (hipping) unit provided by member company Avure Technologies, an extremely large electron beam chamber from Pro-Beam, and a high power diode laser cladding cell.

Both teams are also recruiting new researchers and technicians to support Nnuman.

Dr Neil Irvine, Nnuman programme manager, said: "With more young engineers and scientists now joining the Nnuman team, we can look forward to taking the programme forward over the next four and a half years and achieving some real long-term benefits to the UK nuclear manufacturing industry."

Nuclear AMRC website

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News: CMD achieve nothing

Manufacturing company, CMD Ltd no longer sends any waste to landfill at its head office site in Rotherham, following the implementation of a new Integrated Waste Management service delivered by Biffa, the specialist waste management company.

Based at Eastwood, the company is a specialist in innovative office products including underfloor power systems, lighting and power busbars, lighting control systems, together with office power, cable management and ergonomic solutions.

All of its waste is now sent for recycling.

Graham Gillott, quality manager at CMD Ltd, said: "It is encouraging to see businesses like ourselves working effectively with Biffa to achieve this industry leading target of zero waste to landfill.

"As well as demonstrating the importance of environmental responsibility, implementing more effective recycling services to reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill makes good business sense: landfill tax costs continue to rise and increasingly, collection contracts such as this will be the most economic way for businesses of all sizes to deal with recycling as well as general waste. This news is a tremendous achievement for us and demonstrates our commitment to cut carbon emissions across our business.

"All recycled waste is collected by Biffa and rebates are received for recyclable materials, which substantially reduces our costs. Biffa worked with us to implement new recycling systems, introducing a Dry Mixed Recycling (DMR) service for materials like plastic bottles, paper and cans as well as general waste recycling services."

Established in 1984, the company underwent a management buyout in June 2008 and still strongly believe in the benefits and traditions of British manufacturing. 95% of the parts used in the making of the Air and Motion Arms are sourced in the UK, with 80% sourced locally.

CMD Ltd website

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News: Titans becoming a fixture at local companies

Players and staff at Rotherham Titans, the town's rugby team, have taken time out to visit the premises of local companies that have supported them over the season.

Following on from a visit to AESSEAL's global headquarters in Templeborough, to show their support of National Apprentice Week, Titans representatives recently visited the KP Nuts factory at Eastwood.

The main purpose of the visit was to help celebrate the 60th anniversary of the No.1 KP Nuts peanut brand. During the visit, players met with production staff responsible for producing around 140 million packs of nuts each year.

The team moved on to award-winning security experts, Pyronix at Hellaby who have been a supporter of the Titans for many years. Pyronix manufactures an extensive range of electronic security equipment for intruder alarms, exporting more than 50% of its annual turnover to 96 countries around the world.

The Rotherham branch of Willmott Dixon then hosted the Titans at its Templeborough site. Willmott Dixon has been the Titans major sponsor for the last two years, both in terms of the Rugby Club and the Titans Community Foundation. The firm repairs and maintains 12,000 homes in Rotherham.

John Lewis, chief executive of Rotherham Titans, said: "Willmott Dixon have been fantastic supporters for the last two years with the Titans Community Foundation and the Rugby Club. We and Willmott Dixon share the same important values of Inspiration, Respect and Success, which I believe is what makes our partnership such a valued and successful one and one we hope will continue as we move forward."

Rotherham titans website

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News: Flying start for Marussia Manor Racing

Tio Ellinas, racing for Rotherham-based Marussia Manor Racing, leads the field after the first round of the GP3 Series.

Whilst the F1 team may have moved from Rotherham to Banbury in Oxfordshire to be closer to McLaren, their technical partners, the Dinnington outfit is still playing a key role in developing F1 drivers of the future.

Rotherham-born John Booth remains as the team principal in F1 and the team's former headquarters on the site of the former Dinnington colliery is now home to the Marussia Manor GP3 team.

The GP3 series follows the F1 European calendar and the emphasis is on developing driver skills, with all teams using the same chassis, engine and tyre suppliers.

GP3 race teams and cars are equipped, based and resourced at the Rotherham facility, just as F1 teams and cars were when Manor began life as Virgin Racing.

As an integral part of the F1 setup, the intention is to use the GP3 team as part of its driver development initiative. The reward for successful drivers could be a drive with the Marussia F1 Team.

Manor's pedigree is good. Previous graduates include Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Räikkönen, who both went on to win the Formula One World Championship.

Tio Ellinas started the new season last weekend, just how he ended the last, by winning. The "Flying Cypriot" picked up 31 points by wining the first race in Barcelona and followed it up with eight points in the second race of the weekend to sit top of the standings.

Tio Ellinas of Marussia Manor Racing (picture above, centre), said: "A very good day and a good start to the season. Last year was my first in GP3, so I didn't have the best start and I had problems with the yellow flags. Now I am experienced and I know the circuits as last year was my first time in Europe. Now I will try to win the championship.!"

Also lining up for Marussia Manor Racing this season are 20 year old Anglo-Italian Dino Zamparelli and 22 year old Ryan Cullen from Somerset.



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News: Engineers of the future visit TWI's Technology Centre

A visit to The Welding Institute's (TWI's) Technology Centre in Rotherham has shown 50 enthusiastic students and staff at the JCB Academy a glimpse into the future of engineering and manufacturing technology.

TWI is one of the world's foremost independent research and technology organisations, with expertise in solving problems in all aspects of manufacturing, fabrication and whole-life integrity management technologies.

The Cambridge organisation has a Technology Centre on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham where experts provide technical support in joining and technologies such as material science, structural integrity, NDT, surfacing, electronic packaging and cutting.

As part of the University Technical College programme, the JCB Academy in Staffordshire specialises in engineering. The visitors came away from the day-long tour of TWI and the nearby Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with talk of new technologies they had seen and the growing number of applications in which they can be used. The students were particularly impressed with novel manufacturing processes such as friction stir welding and laser metal deposition, which they saw demonstrated at TWI.

Paula Gwinnett, team leader in engineering at the JCB Academy said: "At the JCB Academy, our mission is "developing engineers and business leaders for the future." Fulfilling this mission is in no small part down to the inspiration that organisations like TWI provide. Sowing the seed of curiosity, and establishing the notion that everything and anything is possible is key to developing tomorrow's technologists. This visit was successful in both senses."

TWI website

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News: Brinsworth Academy of Engineering restructure

Rotherham-based Brinsworth Academy of Engineering, has initiated a process of restructuring the company around its core of apprenticeships and training delivery.

A leading engineering and manufacturing training provider, its training premises at Templeborough boast an extensively equipped machine shop along with specialist equipment for Mechanical Engineering, Electrical, Electronics, PLC, Instrumentation & Control, CAD CAM and Rapid Prototyping.

The restructure involves a "consolidation of the management team and the streamlining of contract delivery processes" and the company said it will "work towards increasing their profitability and continue to provide a quality service for existing, returning and new employers that are developing their workforce."

The focus will continue to be on its existing, successful divisions of education, workforce development, apprenticeships and commercial recruitment.

In April, Brinsworth Academy of Engineering joined forces with TSL Recruitment and launched a new division Brinsworth Recruitment Services offering temporary, permanent and site service recruitment to the engineering sector.

Mick Crossley, managing director at Brinsworth Academy of Engineering, said: "The company is ahead of its financial performance from last year and has seen an increase in apprenticeship numbers for the last three years. The company will continue to build on this success in the months to come.

"We are building the basis of a long term sustainable business with ambitious plans for the future. With a restructured organisation, we will have a manageable overhead base that will allow us to make the necessary investments in machinery and technology to meet the needs of industry."

Brinsworth Training rebranded to Brinsworth Academy of Engineering in January 2012 and is now wholly owned by Managing Director Mick Crossley. His fellow director Paul Reeves joined the organisation in April 2010.

Brinsworth Academy of Engineering website

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News: AMP companies work together on new runflat system

Runflat Systems Ltd and Performance Engineered Solutions are proving first-hand that there are lucrative benefits to be had by working collaboratively.

Both based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in Rotherham, the firms are pooling resources and knowledge to a develop a new vehicle run flat insert system.

Run flat tyres include self supporting technology which means it is able to support the weight of the vehicle even when they are punctured. Unfortunately, the distance that can be driven on a run flat, in addition to its performance, is limited.

The project is working on a feasible solution as to how the insert could incorporate a bead lock system, a lock that secures the tyre to the wheel and ensures the two rotate together.

By incorporating a bead lock system, the driver will be able to maintain good drivability (steer, accelerate and brake efficiently) on not only one, but even all four deflated tyres.

Moreover, this new system will be lighter, easier to fit and give great performance, whilst maintaining the average price of run flat inserts. This level of run flat ability has been the wish of police, Home Office, military and similar fleet vehicle operators for decades.

Testing carried out at the AMRC with Boeing on the AMP has proved the concept at two tonnes per wheel.

Richard Lust, manager of Runflat Systems Ltd, who developed the new concept, said: "Current run flat insert technology is based on 20 year old concepts and military systems are basically the same as the first commercially available products that came into service in 1943. Runflat Systems Ltd is a research and development company looking at innovative ways to bring new concepts, methods and materials technology to the run flat industry. Our aim is to bring the run flat insert into the 21st Century and provide users with the performance they desire but currently cannot achieve."

Dan Fleetcroft, engineering design director at Performance Engineered Solutions, added: "We are collaborating with Runflat Systems Ltd bringing not only engineering design expertise to the project, but also knowledge of the latest manufacturing technologies, product development tools and perhaps, as importantly, where to access them. Our relationship with the AMRC highlights how valuable our engineering partnerships are as their Advanced Structural Testing Centre has the exact capabilities and experience we require to deliver the laboratory test for evaluation of the product."

Performance Engineered Solutions website

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News: Beatson Clark help bottle the taste of the Caribbean

Rotherham glass manufacturer Beatson Clark is bringing a taste of the Caribbean to retail outlets by supplying a new bespoke bottle for the Caribbean Choice range of sauces.

Grace Foods UK has decided to move its Caribbean Choice Hot Pepper Sauce and Sweet Chilli Sauce from a squeezy plastic bottle into a 250ml white flint glass bottle.

Beatson Clark has worked with Grace Foods UK, the leading supplier of Caribbean food and drink in the UK, for 15 years and was asked to design a new bottle for the product, which is due to be relaunched next month in the independent and wholesale trade.

Lisa Leung, brand manager at Grace Foods UK, said: "Our Caribbean Choice sauces are an exciting addition to any family kitchen, combining delicious taste and great value to help you add a true taste of the tropics to your everyday meals.

"We're delighted with this great new packaging design, which will bring these products in line with our competitors."

Lynn Sidebottom, sales and marketing director at Beatson Clark, added: "Retailing at 99p per bottle, Caribbean Choice is a popular value brand, but the plastic squeezy bottle meant it was out of step with most of the other chilli sauces on the market.

"This new glass bottle is a cost-effective packaging solution for our client which will greatly enhance the quality feel of the product."

The £44m-turnover firm employs over 300 people at its Greasborough Road factory and recently celebrated its 260th anniversary. It specialises in providing glass packaging solutions for niche brands in the food, drink and pharmaceutical markets worldwide and manufacture glass containers for a wide range of household brands, including Crabbie's, Bell's Buttercup, Lyle's Golden Syrup and Lemsip.

Beatson Clark website

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News: Town property up for auction

A prominent Rotherham town centre building is going up for auction next month on the instruction of the receivers.

2A & 6, 6A, 6B and 6C on Wellgate is predominantly vacant but includes the 235 sq ft Staniforths bakery outlet and the former premises of Keith Mallinson Tailors and Peter Bird hairdressers. It also includes 2,800 sq ft of office space on the upper floors.

Set to go under the hammer at the June auction of Sheffield chartered surveyors, Mark Jenkinson & Son, the property has a guide price of £125,000–£150,000. GVA are the joint auctioneers.

Recent investment on Wellgate has seen Kebabish Original open a franchise in the former Number 10 bar with a main restaurant, plus three special family semi-private areas holding a further 30 diners. It also incorporates a Coffee Republic operation and future plans include a fully refurbished banqueting suite which will host conferences, weddings and other events. Planning permission was also secured to convert the upper floors to form four flats.

The auctioned property was owned by D C Peat Farms Ltd, the family company that owned a number of properties in town and who sold the Best Western Consort Hotel in Thurcroft last year.

Similarly, 19 & 19a Wellgate and The Prince of Wales Feathers on Sheffield Road, also previously owned by D C Peat Farms Ltd are up for sale at the same auction.

Mark Jenkinson & Son website

Images: Mark Jenkinson & Son

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News: AMRC to extend into healthcare technologies and the digital sector

The model for the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing is to be replicated in the healthcare technology and digital sectors using a grant from the government.

The University of Sheffield is one of 16 institutions across the country to have been allocated a share of the Higher Education Funding Council For England's (HEFCE's) £50m Catalyst Fund, to work with businesses and support the UK's economic recovery.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park, the AMRC is a world class centre for advanced machining and materials research for aerospace and other high-value manufacturing sectors. The multimillion pound partnership between industry and academia has become a model for collaborative research centres worldwide and now boasts 75 partners, including Boeing and Rolls Royce.

The AMRC secures funding from a range of organisations; through winning competitive calls for research from the Technology Strategy Board and Research Councils; research projects commissioned by business; and through Tier 1 and Tier 2 sponsors.

The university will now develop the model into new areas – healthcare technologies and the creative and digital sectors. This is intended to stimulate growth in the Sheffield City Region, which has one of the UK's highest concentrations of medical device companies.

Activity will focus on collaborative research and applied research and development, graduate entrepreneurship and postgraduate applied studentships. Private sector partners include ARM, Zoo Digital, Wandisco, Boeing, Accenture, Mott Macdonald, IBM, Thales, Costain, Sandvik, Starrag, Carpenter, Mori Seiki and Alpha rooms.

The project has the support of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership.

Sheffield Hallam University has also secured funding to develop a National Centre of Excellence for Food Engineering with an ambitious target to help add £1 billion in Gross Value Added to the food and drink industry, as well as to get more graduates engaged in the industry.

Minister for Universities and Science David Willetts, said: "Universities and colleges are vital to the UK's economy. This extra £50m will harness the potential for growth across the regions, focus on our world-class industrial sectors, and create a skilled workforce for the future. It will support cutting-edge innovation and research projects and keep us ahead in the global race."

Yesterday, the Minister confirmed that up to £63m has been allocated this year by the Technology Strategy Board to support the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, of which the AMRC is a key part.

The AMRC website

Images: AMRC

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News: The Expo People are export experts

The Expo People, a new global events business has launched to support companies new to exporting overseas realise their potential without requiring additional permanent resource.

With backing from Rotherham Youth Enterprise, the new company is based in RiDO's Moorgate Crofts business centre in Rotherham and has been set up by international event specialist, Paul Tomes who has worked with events organizers around the world to promote events from Morocco to Abu Dhabi and across Europe.

Previously international co-ordinator at healthcare consultancy, Medilink, Paul has planned, developed and executed exhibition projects around the world, with a focus on Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America and believes successful export doesn't need to cost the earth if planned properly.

Paul Tomes, business development director at The Expo People, said: "Attending an international exhibition or trade show for lots of companies is the first step to trading globally. It's quite an expensive and often daunting prospect and the notion of doing business overseas can be frightening and time consuming for a small business.

"Having worked with lots of small to medium sized businesses in the UK and overseas I absolutely believe exhibiting internationally is the key to business success and I'm looking forward to helping more companies realise their global potential and reap the rewards from going global."

Witnessing the benefits for healthcare companies daring to export, Paul now wants to help more companies across sectors benefit and make sure they are making the most of their budget. The Expo People work with organisations on their sales or exhibition strategy to make sure they stand out at trade fairs and exhibitions whilst also being as cost-efficient and resource-efficient as possible.

Paul added: "We are currently working with several overseas organisers to encourage UK companies to display their products overseas and are able to offer support for stand build, travel and accommodation, freight restrictions and other related tasks involved in attending a successful exhibition."

The Expo People website

Images: RiDO

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News: How to make a turbine blade as a single crystal

The Royal Aeronautical Society is hosting a lecture next week to find out how Rolls-Royce will manufacture single crystal turbine blades at its new Rotherham premises.

The Advanced Blade Casting Facility is currently under construction on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP). The multi million pound facility will produce a specific portfolio of civil aerospace parts, such as turbine blades, using advanced manufacturing techniques and an increased level of automation.

The new foundry will be used for Rolls-Royce's pioneering work in the manufacture of single crystal (SX) turbine blades. It is developing new, high-productivity manufacturing processes to create these important and highly complex aero engine components.

The turbine extracts energy from the hot gas stream received from the combustor in high-thrust aero engines. Turbine blades convert the energy stored within the gas into kinetic energy. It is required to withstand centrifugal loads of up to ten tonnes while operating at temperatures in excess of the melting point of the alloy.

Making a blade as a single crystal using a modified version of the directional solidification technique eliminates grain boundaries, a source of weakness in a high stress application, and single crystal casting, exotic alloying additions and protective coatings have enabled Rolls-Royce to increase metal temperatures by approximately 300°C over the last 50 years, a figure that can be doubled when the temperature of the gas stream itself is considered.

The Rotherham factory will manufacture advanced turbine blade castings for the company's most modern, high-thrust engines. There are over 65 in every iconic Trent engine and 100,000 blades per year will be manufactured when it becomes fully operational in 2014.

George Durrant is responsible for technical aspects of single crystal turbine blades at Rolls-Royce's plants in Derby and Rotherham. On May 21 at the AMP, he will explain the company's groundbreaking manufacturing techniques such as 3D structured light for geometry inspection.

Rolls-Royce is working closely with the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry (part of the government's High Value Manufacturing Catapult Centre along with the AMRC in Rotherham) to develop and optimise the enabling technologies. A pre-production cell is being used to prove the effectiveness of cutting edge technologies designed to deliver significant productivity improvements.

The 14,900 sq m factory is the first of three facilities on the AMP that has secured outline planning permission. It will be home to the first 180 employees of an initial 360 Rolls-Royce staff in Rotherham.

Royal Aeronautical Society Sheffield website
Rolls-Royce website

Images: Rolls-Royce

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News: Pets at Home planning Cortonwood store

Pet supplies retailer, Pets at Home is planning another Rotherham outlet with a 7,500 sq ft store at Cortonwood Retail Park.

Plans have been submitted for new signage at unit 3, part of the retail park's fourth phase of development.

The park is home to a number of national retailers including Morrisons, B&Q, Next, Matalan Asda Living, Halfords and SCS all of whom report their outlets at the park amongst their top trading stores.

Since the regeneration of the former Cortonwood Colliery site St Pauls Developments has developed over 2.6m sq ft of commercial space, 500,000 sq ft of retail stores and reclaimed and sold in excess of 100 acres of residential land across South Yorkshire.

New outlets for Dreams and Smyths Toys opened in the latest phase, constructed by Sheffield's JF Finnegan. However, the Dreams store was not acquired in the deal to buy the bed retailer out of administration in March.

Pets at Home is the UK's leading specialist retailer of pet food, pet-related products and accessories; it also sells fish and small animals. The business was established in 1991 and operates from over 345 stores and was the subject of a KKR backed buyout in 2010. For the year to 29 March 2012, the company enjoyed sales of £544.3m and EBITDA (earnings) of £91.7m.

Pets at Home already operates a store at Parkgate Shopping and planning permission was secured earlier this year to enable the company to take two empty units at Canklow Meadows.

Plans for a significant expansion to Cortonwood Retail Park were refused by the council's planning board earlier this year.

Pets at Home website

Images: Pets at Home / Facebook

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News: Millmoor demolition plans submitted

The pub, not the football ground.

C.F. Booth, one of the largest independently run recycling companies in Europe, is planning to demolish a number of buildings at its large Masbrough site, including the Millmoor pub and Victoria Hall.

The company specialises in metal recycling and metal ingot manufacturing of both ferrous and non ferrous metals for UK import and export. Its Clarence Metal Works on Armer Street is thought to be the largest scrapyard in Europe.

Plans have recently been submitted to the council to see whether prior approval is required to demolish around 14 older buildings between Millmoor Lane and the Holmes Tail Goit that runs through the site. It is expected that two workshops will remain.

The most recent investment saw the company replace an old storage building with a new larger one in 2011.

The former home of Rotherham United, Millmoor, adjoins the application site but is not part of the planning application drawn up by architects, Nuttall Yarwood and Partners. The Millmoor pub closed when the club left Millmoor in 2008 and the Victoria Hall was most recently used as a boxing gym but is in a very poor state of disrepair.

Without regular tenants, the football ground, the home of The Millers for over 100 years, was set to host home games for the Rotherham Titans, the town's rugby team, but talks broke down in 2011 after "a commercially viable solution could not be found."

Rotherham United has just completed its first successful season in the £20m New York Stadium close to the town centre.

Established in 1920, C.F. Booth has grown from a local metal trader and sustained investment in staff, technology and equipment enables C.F. Booth to be at the forefront of the industry and able to meet the ever growing global demand for recycled metals.

An extensive range of services includes specialist forms of scrap metal recycling and the trading and processing of all grades of ferrous and non-ferrous scrap.

With sales of £236.9m, the firm was awarded the prestigious Queen's Award for Enterprise for International Trade in 2012 as export sales reached an impressive £132m in 2011.

A decision on the plans is expected in June.

C.F. Booth website

Images: CF Booth / Nuttall Yarwood and Partners / ARC Environmental

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News: Xeros and BASF to find the right chemistry

The journey towards commercialisation for the virtually waterless washing machine developed by innovative Rotherham company, Xeros, has received another boost with a new partnership secured with world leading chemical company, BASF.

The Leeds University spin-out, based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP), has developed a patented system using a unique method of special polymer beads rather than the usual large amounts of fresh water to clean clothes. Instead a small amount of water is added to loosen clothing stains and activate the beads.

Germany's BASF is "The Chemical Company" and has developed chemicals throughout its history that we take for granted, including synthetic dyes, soda, sulfuric acid and ammonia. Its scientists will now work with experts at Xeros to develop polymer beads based on engineering plastics that will increase the cleaning power in laundry applications.

Bill Westwater, chief executive officer of Xeros Ltd: "This is an exciting time for Xeros. Our growth strategy is on target, building on the momentum of our international expansion into the United States via our subsidiary Xeros Inc.

"This long-term partnership with BASF solidifies the future of our revolutionary cleaning system, bringing us together with one of the world's most powerful companies in terms of chemical engineering, product performance and social responsibility."

Matthias Dietrich, head of business development at BASF's Engineering Plastics Europe, added: "On the one side, as a globally active chemical company we can support Xeros through our global network and the worldwide availability of our materials. On the other side we can make use of our strong research and development base which can provide tailormade plastics with specific combinations of properties."

With installations underway in three distinct segments of the commercial laundry industry, Xeros will formally launch its new system to the worldwide commercial laundry market at the June 2013 Clean Show in New Orleans.

The Xeros cleaning system comprises a special washing machine designed to release the beads into the drum for cleaning, and which then removes the beads from the clothes once the cleaning is complete. With at least 70% less water, up to 50% less energy  and approximately 50% less detergent, the Xeros system delivers superior cleaning results compared to conventional washing. The beads have a lifespan of hundreds of washes before being collected and recycled.

Through the use of polymer bead technology, the Xeros cleaning process has shown to be more effective than traditional “soap and water” methods. By combining the beads' molecular structure with a proprietary detergent solution, the result is a superior cleaning medium that beats even water. The dirt from soiled items is attracted and absorbed by the beads, producing cleaner results.

A £10m funding round was completed in March to accelerate the roll-out of the Xeros commercial laundry cleaning system and finalise the development of a household system to replace conventional washing machines.

Xeros website

Images: Xeros

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News: $1.6bn writedown for Tata Steel

Tata Steel, the Indian-owned steelmaker, has announced a $1.6 billion writedown on its assets, mainly on the European operations that have suffered from a market slowdown and rising raw material prices since Corus joined the Tata Steel family in April 2007 in a £6 billion transaction.

A write down reduces the book value of an asset if its is overstated compared to current market values. The review was carried out in preparation of the company's full year results that are due later this month.

The review was undertaken "taking into account the external economic environment and macroeconomic conditions especially in Europe, the underlying demand - supply imbalance of the global steel industry and the prudent view of the forecast of the businesses."

Just over 2,000 people are employed at Tata Steel in South Yorkshire and sites including Stocksbridge and Aldwarke specialise in the production of high grade and special steels for the world's leading companies in markets ranging from automotive to aerospace, civil engineering to component manufacturing, energy industries to consumer goods. Narrow strip is produced at Brinsworth.

The speciality steels business is performing well but the latest statement from Tata highlights that "apparent steel demand has fallen significantly in 2012-13 by almost 8% which in aggregate results in almost 30% since the emergence of the global financial crisis in 2007."

The steelmaker added that it expects the "conditions to continue over the near and medium term, and has led to the downward revision of cash flow expectations underlying the valuation of the European business."

Tata Steel Europe's EBITDA (earnings before tax) fell to $349m for the financial year ending March 31, 2012. This was down from $922m in the previous year. The fall in earnings was despite turnover in Tata Steel Europe for the year increasing to $16.15 billion from $14.52 billion and sales increasing by 3.7%.

Tata Steel posted a loss for its European operation of £51.2m for the third quarter of 2012/13, down from an £5.2m loss the previous quarter but up from a £93.2m loss in the same quarter last year.

The writedown will do little to quell rumours from the Indian sub-continent that Tata Steel is planning to sell of some of its UK assets to reduce its debt burden.

The UK management of Tata Steel dismissed the claims, as they did the reports last month that Tata was preparing to close UK research and development facilities on Teesside and in Rotherham over the next 18 months.

Michael Leahy, general secretary of Community, the union, said: "Time and time again when these reports emerge, we have received assurances from Tata Steel they have no plans to cut back on investment in the UK or close plants. That said, they are clearly of concern to the workers and their families. Therefore today I am calling for an urgent meeting of the Tata Steel European Works Council with Chief Executive, Karl Kohler in attendance, to get a clear statement from the company on the future of its European operations and the UK in particular."

Tata Steel website

Images: Tata Steel

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News: ComAp Systems in MBO

Rotherham based power solutions business ComAp Systems has been acquired by its managers in a buy-out from Czech parent company ComAp AS.

Based at Manvers, ComAp Systems Ltd specialise in creating control solutions for power generators, such as Combined Heat and Power (CHP) and complex diesel installations. Now renamed Applied Power Engineering Limited, it provides power generation control products and consultancy services to blue chip corporates such as Nationwide Building Society, National Grid, Severn Trent, and Cable and Wireless.

In 2011, the company expanded into new 6,500 sq ft premises at Adwick Park.

Darren Bailey, managing director of Applied Power Engineering Limited, said: "Following almost 12 years of success as ComAp's original systems company we are delighted to have been able to acquire the business. We have a new name, but the same focus, people, and expertise."

Grant Howard of Burgis & Bullock Corporate Finance led and managed the deal and he added: "Independence gives the business the ability to provide an even wider range of solutions, products and services to its customers, enabling it to work on the most complex and demanding power generation systems."

Sandra Chrichton and Magda Dyson of Huddersfield based Eaton Smith LLP acted as legal advisers to the management team. Laurence Applegate of London based Hierons LLP acted for ComAp AS.

The deal value was not disclosed.

ComAP Systems website

Images: ComAP Systems

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News: Dormer’s trademark celebration

A significant milestone in the history of one of the world's most respected cutting tool manufacturer's will be recognised next month.

Dormer Tools, which started life as The Sheffield Twist Drill Co. in 1913 is marking its 100 years with a programme of key activities to celebrate their on-going contribution to the global engineering industry.

Now based in state-of-the-art headquarters on the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) in Rotherham, Dormer is one of the world's foremost producers of solid carbide and high speed steel rotary cutting tools and now has subsidiaries in 25 countries.

Dormer's famous "Dovecote" trademark was created in June 1917 and, in subsequent decades, became the recognisable symbol of quality and craftsmanship typically associated with the company's products.

This catalyst for the trademark was a period of rapid early growth after formation in 1913 as the Sheffield Twist Drill Co. The Dovecote came about after a Dutch agent casually suggested a windmill with a Dormer window, making a play on the name of the then joint managing director Mr Harry A. Dormer.

The Dormer name itself was originally introduced as a brand for the company's drilling products. Trademarked in 1924, it eventually replaced the original company name as overseas expansion gathered pace.

John O'Donoghue, general manager at Dormer Tools, said: "The Dovecote trademark symbolised a spirit of innovation which has been synonymous with Dormer since our inception.

"The company's early foresight to specialise in cutting tool manufacture, coupled with a singular vision for developing quality products, fuelled rapid growth.

"It has been this passion and drive for excellence which has enabled Dormer to remain at the forefront of the global cutting tool industry for the last one hundred years.

"While the trademark is no longer used, the company's belief in continuing to produce innovative products, delivering quality service and remaining the industry’s trusted partner, continues to this day."

As part of the celebrations Dormer has provided a number of artefacts to the "Rustless" exhibition at Sheffield's Kelham Island industrial museum, which celebrates 100 years since the discovery of stainless steel by Harry Brearley.

Dormer Tools website

Images: Dormer Tools

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News: End in sight for A57 scheme

Work is still on schedule for the £14.7m improvement programme on the dual carriageway at the A57 in Rotherham.

The council scheme will see a 1.5 mile section of the A57 turned into a dual carriageway from the Todwick crossroads to Junction 31 of the M1 motorway. The work also includes replacing the crossroads with a roundabout.

Contractors Ringway Infrastructure Services started on site last September and the new road is expected to be fully open to traffic early next year.

The works initially focused on earthworks, drainage, boundary works and large scale utility diversions but have now moved on to completing the new roundabout as well as the Todwick Road approach to the new roundabout.

In order for this stage to be safely completed it has been necessary to close the B6463 Todwick Road, between Pocket Handkerchief Lane and Todwick Crossroads.

It was originally anticipated that this road would be re-opened next week but due to a combination of poor winter weather and the opportunity to bring forward other works originally planned for later in the programme, the road will now re-open in two weeks time, on Monday May 20.

David Phillips, transportation and highways projects manager for Rotherham Borough Council, said: "We appreciate that the closure of Todwick Road causes inconvenience for both local people and businesses. However, its closure was essential to allow this part of the project to be completed in both a safe environment and with minimum delay overall as a longer closure at this time will reduce disruption later in the scheme."

The Department for Transport granted £11.8m for improvements and Rotherham Council has committed £2.9m for the long-awaited scheme.

A public enquiry was concluded last year when the planning inspector agreed with the council that the scheme would improve road safety and bring huge economic and regeneration benefits to the area.

The scheme improves an important 1 mile stretch of road between the M1 and A1 and supports the continued regeneration of the former coalfields at Dinnington which is now a thriving business location.

RMBC website

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News: Rotherham markets redevelopment plans back on the table

Rotherham Council is to look again at redeveloping the markets complex in Rotherham town centre, in order to take advantage of Tesco's imminent move across town.

The Centenary Markets Complex requires redevelopment and funding has been secured to carry out design and feasibility work on both the indoor and outdoor sections to establish how best to bring forward this redevelopment.

A report to the Cabinet Member and Advisers for Regeneration and Development to secure £25,000 stated that "options for the redevelopment of the outdoor tented market have been devised (pictured) and cost estimates to deliver the works are in the order of £4m. Further work is now required to understand which refurbishment scheme (and associated costs) is most appropriate for the indoor market."

The designs and costs will then be used in future bids to the council's capital programme and other external funding sources to secure delivery of the project.

In 2008, developers TCN UK secured a five year exclusivity agreement with the council to develop 101,722 sq m of vacant land following the disposal of council buildings which also included the markets site. That agreement has come to an end with the £40m Tesco development brought forward on the site of the former civic offices. In the same way that TCN secured funding for the Tesco development, funding for the market development was to come from the private sector.

Ways of financing the projects will be one of the issues covered by the feasibility work and in the report, Simeon Leach, regeneration manager at Rotherham Council, said: "Given the costs associated with the redevelopment of the outdoor tented market and the lack of funding currently available to deliver this scheme, work is required to devise a programme of small scale improvements to enhance the entrances to, and exterior of, the Markets Complex in the short term. This is necessary to try and ensure the markets complex benefits from the adjacent Tesco investment.

"As the project progresses, a redeveloped markets complex should encourage new businesses to set up in the markets complex and ensure existing traders continue to operate in a vibrant and viable business environment safeguarding existing businesses in the town centre."

Previous plans drawn up through the Rotherham Renaissance design stages even showed a new car park with bowling alley, cinema and food court above, on the site of the covered outside market.

The £25,000 has been approved from the council's Rotherham Economic Regeneration Fund (RERF) in the same way that funding was secured to fund site investigations on Forge Island, the land Tesco is vacating, to asses the site for a cinema and possible new theatre development.

Opened in March 1971, the Centenary Market Complex was built to replace the street market and old Victorian market hall situated on Corporation Street. In 1998 the new roof was completed, covering 3,500 sq m of outdoor market.

A major footfall attractor for the town, the markets currently draw in around 85,000 visits per week. Proposals have been considered by councillors this week for an Asian themed "bazaar type" market to be held under license on the outdoor covered market each Thursday.

The redevelopment of Sheffield's markets is well underway, with the move across from the Castle area to a purpose built, £17.5m Market Hall on The Moor. The revised £125m Barnsley Markets Project includes a new market hall as part of larger regeneration plans.

Rotherham Council website

Images: RMBC / TCN UK

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News: Approval leads to job creation at Greenbuy Energy

Expanding Rotherham green energy company, Greenbuy Energy, is one of the first in the region to gain accreditation for a new energy saving initiative – which enables it to install free energy-efficient boilers to householders.

Greenbuy Energy, which has its headquarters in Dinnington and a showroom in Doncaster, has been approved for the government-backed ECO scheme – which is tasked with reducing carbon emissions, by replacing old inefficient boilers, with new "A" rated models.

The enterprise underwent a stringent assessment process to qualify as an ECO installer for A-rated boilers, which are being offered for free to qualifying house-holders.

Russell Paul, director of Greenbuy Energy, said: “We are very proud to have gained accreditation for ECO which enables us to replaces inefficient gas boilers with an A-rated high-efficiency condensing boiler. House-holders which qualify get a new boiler for free and worth approximately £1,600 - £2,500 depending individual requirements.

"These new boilers make a significant difference to carbon emissions so are good for the planet and can save householders hundreds of pounds each year on their gas bill."

Based at RiDO's Matrix at Dinnington Business Centre, Greenbuy has already taken on nine new members of staff to keep up with demand for the replacement boilers.

Introduced in January 2013, the ECO (Energy Company Obligation) is for the big six energy suppliers, and means that they are obliged to support affordable warmth and reduce carbon emissions. It includes providing heating and insulation improvements for low-income and vulnerable households, funding to insulate solid-walled properties and providing insulation measures to people living in the bottom 15% of the UK's most deprived areas. To reduce carbon emissions, energy suppliers decided the most efficient way was to set aside a pot of money each year to replace old boilers with the best rated boilers.

Russell explained: "To qualify there are set rules around if you receive certain benefits or tax credits and the household’s income level. The scheme is open to tenants, homeowners and landlords. We can talk people through the process and let them know very quickly whether they qualify for the scheme."

Greenbuy was created when business partners Russell Paul and Steven Peacock teamed up to give home and business owners clear information and advice on how to make their premises energy efficient.

Greenbuy Energy website

Images: Greenbuy Energy

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News: New directors for South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive

The South Yorkshire Passenger Transport Executive (SYPTE) will be jointly managed by two directors following the departure of director general David Brown.

The SYPTE works in partnership with the local councils and transport service operators to manage public transport infrastructure, run the local bus, train and tram services and provide walking and cycling routes.

Ben Still and David Young will share the director general responsibilities until such time as a permanent appointment is made to fill the top post. David Brown has left SYPTE to join Merseytravel.

Ben Still, who will continue as executive team chief executive at the Sheffield City Region (SCR) will take on some additional responsibilities as an interim director general at SYPTE with specific responsibility for high speed rail and rail franchising. Ben moved into his role at the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) from director of strategy at SYPTE last year.

Current director of customer experience at SYPTE, David Young will become interim deputy director general, leading on operational activities of the SYPTE. David will oversee the introduction of smart ticketing; develop more Bus Partnerships and progress major funded projects including the Better Bus Area, Local Sustainable Transport Fund and the Tram-Train rail project.

The arrangements are expected to be in place for approximately 11 months until arrangements for a "Combined Authority" are known and finalised.

Ben Still, chief executive at Sheffield City Region (SCR) Executive and interim director general at SYPTE, said: "I am looking forward to working across both the LEP and SYPTE whilst arrangements to support the City Region Authority　are developed by the SCR Leaders Board and the Integrated Transport Authority.

"It is important, during this period, that SYPTE continues to focus on delivering public transport projects and services for the benefit of people of South Yorkshire. I look forward to working with David Young and the staff at SYPTE.

"I will continue to support the LEP Board and its Local Authority partners in their key projects to drive economic growth and create jobs in the Sheffield City Region."

James Newman, chairman of the Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership, added: "The next few months will be critical as the LEP develops and agrees its five year plan for economic growth with Government.

"Ben's role as Interim Director General will be very helpful to the LEP as it develops its plans to deliver growth and prosperity for businesses and local people."

The nine local authorities that comprise the SCR have agreed to create the SCR Authority to take governance from informal collaboration to joint decision making on major issues. The SCR Authority brings together an integrated transport authority (ITA) and an economic prosperity board (EPB) in order to align political decision making around strategic economic development and transport.

Mick Jameson, Chairman of South Yorkshire Integrated Transport Authority, said: "We would like to thank David Brown for the work that he has done as Director General for the past five years but we know we are in good hands with both Ben Still and David Young at the helm.

"We are currently working through the arrangements and new structures for the Sheffield City Region "Combined Authority" and as part of that work we will be making a permanent arrangement in due course."

SYPTE website
SCR LEP website

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News: Wentworth Woodhouse legal battle reaches Court of Appeal

The dispute between the owners of Wentworth Woodhouse in Rotherham and the Coal Authority over a claim for damages has been heard by the Court of Appeal.

Clifford Newbold and his sons, the owners of Wentworth Woodhouse since 1999, have been examining options for the long-term sustainable uses for the Grade 1 Listed building in order to ensure the heritage is preserved and enjoyed for future generations, as well as using the opportunity to help generate employment.

Key to this is a claim for damages against the Coal Authority for at least £100m, in respect of the damage caused by the deep and open cast mining, which is being disputed.

The Coal Authority attempted to stop the claim in the Lands Chamber of the Upper Tribunal last year, arguing that the two damage notices served by the owners were invalid. The judge, Mr George Bartlett QC, ruled in favour of the Newbold family, concluding that the Coal Authority's case was "without merit" and that "the Authority's contention that the notices were invalid must fail."

The case was expected to go to a full hearing but lawyers acting for The Coal Authority asked that the decision be overturned by the Court of Appeal.

The case was heard this week by Lord Justice Longmore, Lord Justice McFarlane and Sir Stanley Burnton at the Court of Appeal. The judges have reserved judgement to consider the case further.

On learning of the Authority's decision to appeal, the Newbold brothers said in a statement last year: "The Coal Authority is wasting time and money which will, of course, mean additional costs which can only put in further jeopardy one of the country's finest Grade I Listed Buildings."

Plans were unveiled in 2011 for the mansion house to create a combination of publicly accessible restored museum to the central and grandest rooms, as well as a 70 suite luxury hotel and spa to the remainder. The proposal hopes to revive the use of the house in such a way that minimises alteration and change to the historic building, making best use of the spaces that can be open to the public.

Lead consultants, Purcell Miller Tritton are working on the plans and an experienced technical team was put in place including architects, cost consultants and property specialists, to bring the project forward. It was hoped that it would begin last year and aspects to be completed in 2015.

Developments have taken place at the "big house", including continued restoration works. Tours have begun highlighting some of the main rooms and a Victorian style tea room has opened in the house. A number of events are planned throughout the year, including a successful Spring Fayre last weekend, a Flower Power Fair on July 14 and a Heritage Car Rally on September 1. BBC's Antiques Roadshow is also scheduled to film in September.

The college buildings and stables are currently being used by Wakefield Prison Guards for dog training and planning permission is being sought for a green access road from the north to access the existing playing field.

Wentworth Woodhouse website

Images: Wentworth Woodhouse

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News: AMRC helps university increase engineering research income

The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing in Rotherham has helped the University of Sheffield to overtake the University of Cambridge for engineering research income, confirming the institution as a world-leader in the field.

Based on the Advanced Manufacturing Park, the AMRC is a world class centre for advanced machining and materials research for aerospace and other high-value manufacturing sectors. The multimillion pound partnership between industry and academia has become a model for collaborative research centres worldwide and now boasts 75 partners, including Boeing and Rolls Royce.

The centre attracts industry members at different tiers, keen to make use of the world-class machines and facilities at the AMRC. The model also enables the centre to secure funding for a diverse range of cutting edge technologies, from shaped metal deposition in the aerospace industry to the use of bio-composites in the automotive industry.

The AMRC has played a key role in developing new techniques to cut costs and production times. Messier-Bugatti-Dowty called on the AMRC to help them win major orders for landing gear parts made from a new grade of titanium alloy for Boieng's Dreamliner by helping to reduce the machining of the titanium components by a factor of 18, and reduce their tooling costs by 30 percent.

Working with Rolls-Royce engineers, AMRC specialists also helped to significantly reduce the machining time of turbine discs. This has led to major efficiency savings and made it worthwhile to retain the production within the UK.

Expansion on the AMP has seen the creation of the Nuclear AMRC and the current construction of the Design Prototyping and Testing Centre and the AMRC Training Centre, providing opportunities for 250 apprentices and high-level training, concentrating on sectors such as aerospace, energy and Formula One.

The data, compiled by the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) shows that for 2011/12 the University of Sheffield’s engineering research income of £46m surpassed that of Cambridge by almost 10 percent.

Professor Keith Ridgway, CBE, research director of the AMRC, said: "The fact that the University of Sheffield has overtaken Cambridge is a fantastic accolade. The AMRC plays a major role in attracting world class industrial partners to invest in the University and we're committed to continuing the cutting edge work that puts Sheffield on the map."

The latest HESA statistics mean that the University of Sheffield is now second only to Imperial College London in terms of engineering research income.

Professor Sir Keith Burnett, vice-chancellor of the University of Sheffield, said: "Engineering is a real strength not only of the University of Sheffield but also of the city itself. Sheffield has a proud tradition of innovation in manufacturing, and the University's research income underscores the confidence that industry and funders have in our exceptional capabilities in this area.

"It is also a source of real pride to us that the engineering research we carry out at the University in areas such as green energy, advanced manufacture and medical technologies bring enormous benefits to the local and national economy, as well as to individuals who are directly helped by the engineering solutions developed by us."

AMRC website

Images: AMRC

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News: EMSc open Australian office

EMSc (Australia) Pty Ltd, the Australian-based subsidiary of UK-based EMSc, has established a new office in Melbourne to meet the growing export demand for its market-leading Powerstar voltage optimisation system in Australia.

Powerstar is a unique voltage optimisation system with a patented design that actively reduces a considerable percentage of a building's electrical energy consumption. It is the only system wholly designed and manufactured in the UK and works by reducing the the voltage supplied by the National Grid.

Speaking of the decision to launch an Australian office, Paul North, international business development manager for the EMSc Group, said: "Powerstar has truly established itself as a market leader in voltage optimisation. Systems have been installed globally for over a decade and boast 100 per cent reliability with no failures and average savings of 12-15 per cent in electricity consumption.

"In Australia we boast well known companies including Coles Supermarkets, Coles Express, numerous councils and many other small and large power users amongst our client base.

"To continue developing market opportunities in the region we are keen to formalise relationships with local consultants, distributors and installation partners."

The innovative firm has recently expanded from premises in Rotherham to a 23,620 sq ft unit in Sheffield comprising the head office, manufacturing space and R&D facilities. The company outgrew its premises at Templeborough and relocated to St Paul's Developments' Smithy Wood Business Park.

Further international success for EMSc includes the signing of a new distribution agreement with the Hamburg based company 67rockwell, who will be distributing Powerstar voltage optimisation systems in Germany, Switzerland and Austria.

Powerstar has also been identified as a "champion technology" by Chinese government experts. After two years of extensive searching, the panel of 30 industry experts picked out Powerstar for the way it could reduce China's electricity consumption and carbon footprint.

Dr. Alex Mardapittas, the managing director of EMSc (UK) Ltd (pictured), said: "It is a great honour to have Powerstar chosen as a "champion technology’, particularly after such extensive search was carried out by such a renowned group of industry professionals. We are proud to be working on this project and I am looking forward to see the first results and case studies in China from the first trials."

EMSc website

Images: EMSc

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News: Continuous improvement at Newburgh

Newburgh Engineering has achieved and been accredited to SC21 Bronze standard, solidifying its place within the aerospace and defence supply chains, and has secured funding to take on further apprentices.

Newburgh is a specialist contract manufacturer of component parts and assemblies for the nuclear, defence, oil and gas, petrochemical, aerospace and power generation industries. It has its head office and manufacturing facility in Templeborough and a site in Derbyshire.

SC21 is a change programme designed to accelerate the competitiveness of the aerospace and defence industry by raising the performance of its supply chains.

Newburgh Directors David Greenan and Matthew Jewitt were presented with their SC21 Bronze award at the ADS Taskforce event held in Bristol in April. ADS is a trade organisation advancing the UK aerospace, defence, security and space industries.

The SC21 programme is one of change and performance improvement. Its objective is to drive evolution, innovation and technology development to ensure continuous improvement within the cutting edge technology companies who operate within the aerospace and defence industries. This, in turn will benefit Newburgh and all who operate within their supply chains, having produced numerous benefits for the company already, from connecting its business strategy, formalisation of its continuous drive for improvement, enhanced key business metrics, leaner production, and ultimately extensive improvements in its overall business performance.

Matthew Jewitt, sales director at Newburgh Engineering (picture above, right), said: "We are delighted to receive this award which benchmarks both our business performance and our approach to the long term partnerships that we maintain.

"Continuous improvement is key to our business and sector success, this is applicable now more than ever as we head toward our companies 75th anniversary."

Helping the business to continuously improve is Newburgh's investment in developing skills. 25 apprentices are currently in place and recruitment is underway for six additional Advanced Apprentices.

As a member of the National Skills Academy Nuclear Manufacturing, Newburgh Engineering take on apprentices with the help of Supply Chain Apprentice for Nuclear (SCAN) funding provided by the National Skills Academy for Nuclear.

SCAN is a scheme to provide grants direct to medium and SME employers within the nuclear supply chain, with a wage contribution of up to £10k over the apprenticeship framework duration.

David Greenan, managing director at Newburgh Engineering (picture above, left), said: "It's critical that we see improvements in the UK skills base, and the Nuclear Skills Academy together with SCAN are doing a brilliant job to promote the sector and make this happen. We need to be in a position where we can maximise on opportunities in this expanding market."

Newburgh Engineering website

Images: Newburgh Engineering

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News: RediGroup restructure board

RediGroup, the Rotherham-based pallet racking and mezzanine floor manufacturer, has recently altered the structure of its senior management team following the rebranding that brought together the group's innovative solutions across the supply chain industry.

The intralogistics experts have an 100,000 sq ft manufacturing plant in Kilnhurst and has over 70 employees. Established in 1973, they underwent a management buy out from its former owners, the Norwegian based multinational Dexion Group Limited, in 2004.

At RediGroup's core is RediRack, the creators and market leaders in adjustable, bolt free pallet racking; also part of the group are RediFit, a leading provider of interior design and fit-out services; RediFloor who specialise in the manufacture, supply and installation of mezzanines and structural floors; RediBuild, the principal contracting company and RediTechniX, an award winning automated pallet storage, retrieval and sequencing division.

The group is investing £4m over the next five years including an "Automated Warehouse Innovation Centre" after finalising £1m from the government's Regional Growth Fund (RGF).

Andrew Forsythe who has become chief executive officer at RediGroup (pictured), said: "I'm thrilled to be able to announce the new structure. It's always been part of our vision and the time has come to implement changes which will allow the management team to focus on our corporate activities whilst the new divisional managers take on more responsibility for their individual businesses.

"It is our intention that each division will eventually have its own MD equivalent, so creating a new layer within RediGroup."

In addition to Andrew's role changing from managing director to CEO, Ray Phelan will become chief business development officer and Rob Dargue will move from finance director to chief financial officer. Phil Culling remains chairman and is back at work following his recent illness.

Ray agreed with Andrew's sentiments and added: "These changes reflect RediGroup's commitment to deliver the best solutions, services and team in the industry and I fundamentally believe that with these changes RediGroup is a best in class company offering a best in class service."

Redigroup website

Images: RediGroup

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