Process roundup: Thales, Confederation of British Metalforming, Sparck Technologies, MHA
3 Mar 2023
Global company Thales announced it will be hiring 12,000 new employees internationally, including more than 1,000 in the UK alone. It will be the ninth consecutive year that the firm has taken on a minimum of 5,000 new people annually.
The 2023 hires commitment would set a new record that surpasses last year’s previous record of 11,500 hires – itself a 50% increase on 2021. The number of UK hires is nearly twice the levels for the USA, India and Australia but substantially less than France, where 5,500 will be recruited. R&D will account overall for 40% of those employed.
University of Sheffield AMRC (Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, pictureds) has become the first provider of a degree apprenticeship for the level six process design engineer standard, designed to meet the needs of the Confederation of British Metalforming (CBM). Head of degree apprenticeships Louise Cowling commented: “At present, there is only one other provider delivering this standard of apprenticeship, but does not include a validated degree, however ours will – which makes this a first of its kind apprenticeship and enables us to provide prospective students with a new and unique offer. We are looking forward to getting this new apprenticeship offer off the ground in September.”
The Chemical Business Association (CBA) scooped two awards at the 2023 Trade Association Forum (TAF) Awards. It won in both the Sector Representation of the Year and the Membership Engagement categories. The association was also shortlisted for the Crisis Management and Innovation of the Year awards. Founded in 2003, the TAF Awards are supported by the Department of Business and Trade and recognise excellence, innovation, and best practice amongst trade associations across every sector in the UK. CBA CEO Tim Doggett said: “Since becoming CEO nearly two years ago, we have embarked on a period of evolution and I want to thank the entire team for embracing this vision. It is extremely rewarding to be recognised by your peers.”
Following the release of the latest UK Manufacturing PMI, partner at MHA Guy Hodgkinson has called on the Government to increase R&D investment and create a clear strategy for manufacturing, following the release of the latest UK Manufacturing PMI figures. “Rising energy, material and staff costs have overburdened the manufacturing sector in the last year. Innovation is a proven method for increasing GDP so it is disappointing that the R&D scheme and the super deduction are being reduced (in April 2023),” commented Hodgkinson, adding the UK needed to again become attractive for investment to stimulate growth after recent years of political volatility that had proved a deterrent to international investors.
Automated packaging firm Sparck Technologies has warned UK firms exporting to the European Union to heed EU plans to clamp down on so-called ‘empty space’ parcel deliveries. Article 9 of the European Commission’s draft regulations published last November demands that packaging is designed in order that weight and volume of deliveries are reduced to “the minimum necessary”. While the target date for the EU-only implementation is 2030, Sparck business development manager Jo Bradley warned that this would affect British exporters to Europe and is likely to be paralleled by changes in the UK. The planned rules would require an empty space ratio of no more than 40%, which would be a particular challenge in ecommerce , “where lax practices on the use of wasteful, oversized boxes [are] commonplace”, she said.
