Welcome to the articles that were included in the Autumn 2010 Newsletter. To subscribe please send an email to info@compositesuk.co.uk with Subscribe Composites UK in the subject line.

 

Composites Engineering Show 2010

 

Composites Engineering 2010 was held in Pavilion 1 at the NEC on 29-30 September. More than 3000 professionals visited the show over the 2 days. Composites UK were sponsors of the show and our logo was visible throughout the hall. We had an independent booth which was designed and erected by Driscoll Brothers giving the stand a very professional look.

 

There was a noticeable buzz about the show from 9am on the first morning – on the Composites UK stand we were busy from the minute the doors opened. Composites UK sponsored and co-organised the Industry Briefing session which was attended by around 200 individuals. Presentations will be available shortly through the Composites UK website.

 

Speaking with several organisations, this was an extremely successful show for all who exhibited. Many companies have re-booked space for the show next year, 9-10 November 2011 at the NEC; indeed current bookings indicate the show has already doubled in size. Many who walked the show wished they had exhibited, and have booked stands for 2011.

 

Composites UK will be working with the show organisers to ensure a successful UK Composites show in 2011.

 

Sue Halliwell
Composites UK Secretary
info@compositesuk.co.uk
 

 

 

Composites Europe Show 2010

 

Composites Europe 2010 was held at Essen, Germany. Composites UK had a complimentary 3mx3m stand at the show and it was our first opportunity to show our new pop-up display. The show covered 2½ halls with our stand occupying space in the central hall.

 

Composites Europe states that 8,100 visitors attended the show over the 3 days (previous event in Stuttgart 2009: 6,451, Essen 2008: 8,061). 294 exhibitors from 25 countries showcased technologies and products.

 

UK Composites companies at the show reported good trade and were booking for 2011. The show moves to Stuttgart in 2011 and runs from 27-29 September. Composites UK are considering organising a collaborative stand at the show similar to that at JEC Paris – if you are interested in taking part in this stand please contact the Composites UK office. UKTI TAP awards are available for the 2011 show; applications through the Composites UK office.

 

Sue Halliwell
Composites UK Secretary
info@compositesuk.co.uk
 

 

New Initiative to Reduce Plastics Industry Injuries

A new industry-led initiative to improve health and safety in the plastics industry has been launched.

The plastics industry – in keeping with the rest of the manufacturing sector – has one of the highest rates of industrial injuries.

Latest figures show that in 2008/09, one person was killed and 1,158 were injured in a sector that employs approximately 143,600 people.

Manual handling and slips and trips are responsible for the majority of injuries and illnesses include occupational asthma and dermatitis.

The SIMPL (Safety In Manufacturing Plastics) initiative, supported by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE), will run over three years from 2011 to 2014. It brings together all parts of the industry including trade organizations and unions in a bid to stimulate progress on accident and ill-health reduction by helping to embed a health and safety culture within businesses.

Individual companies are invited to sign a pledge to demonstrate their commitment to improving the health and safety record of the industry as a whole. In return, SIMPL will help employers achieve what they identify as health and safety priorities for their individual business.

The participating employers’ organisations will create action plans to help their members achieve long-term improvements. An accident reporting format will also be established for each area of industry, against which year on year reduction targets will be set.

 

Peter Davis, Director General of the British Plastics Federation (BPF) said:
“The BPF has a long tradition of leadership on health and safety having produced the basic codes of practice for machinery safeguarding with the HSE.

“Safety is a key part of what it means to be a sustainable company and our strong contribution to SIMPL fits well with what the BPF is all about - improving business in the UK plastics industry.”

Dr Paul Darby, a Director of Composites UK said:
'Composites UK fully endorse the SIMPL initiative. Improving H&S
fundamentally makes good business sense. We have worked hard to design a strategy that is appropriate to the SME nature of the Composite's sector. The first hurdle will be to achieve a high level of buy-in to the programme through sign-up to the pledge.'

Andrea Przystupa, Health & Safety Advisor, Unite the Union, said:
“In order to take employees with them, organisations need to move away from a blame culture and encourage more positive safety cultures where consultation and workforce involvement are the norm. Effort should be made to address the real issues and put in place good health and safety management systems creating a good working environment for their people

“We hope that by working together businesses and employees within the Plastic’s Sector can achieve positive improvements in health and safety which will benefit both the workforce and the business.”

Kevin Myers, Deputy Chief Executive for HSE, said:
“The injury rate in the plastics industry, like the rest of the manufacturing sector, is well above the all industries average. It’s essential that senior management recognises the importance of developing a positive health and safety culture, but we also need to draw on the knowledge, skills and enthusiasm of those closest to the risks, the employees.

“Industrial injuries can not only be devastating to the victims, but can put real strain on small firms. It’s good business sense to manage workplace hazards.

“This is why the SIMPL initiative aims to work with everyone across the industry to really drive change and reduce the number of people being killed, injured or made ill by their work.”

The participating organisations are:

• British Plastics Federation
• Composites UK
• GGF
• GMB
• Plastics Machinery Manufacturers & Distributors Association
• Packaging and Films Association
• Unite
• PTIC, Wolverhampton College

For more information on the SIMPL initiative, visit www.hse.gov.uk/plastics

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Composites UK are running a course titled Explaining the New H&S Legislation for the Composites Industry on 2nd November in Chesterfield, UK. Members and Non Members are welcome. Please visit
http://www.compositesuk.co.uk/Information/HealthSafety.aspx for more information.
 

 

Synergy Composites Install Award-Winning MRP/ERP Software.

 

Synergy has teamed up with 123insight to create a ‘Manufacturing Centre of Excellence’.

 

Synergy Composites has invested in their future again by installing the latest version of MRP/ERP software from 123insight. The manufacturing enterprise software covers the complete business cycle from quotations through manufacturing to delivery and invoicing.  The system is the latest version released by 123insight and will control all aspects of Synergy’s businesses and manufacturing processes, ensuring total quality control.

 

Synergy Composites are an advanced composite manufacturer, who through the nature of their business identified a requirement to control all aspects of their organisation from prospective customers all the way through manufacture and despatch of goods.  Synergy also deemed it essential to collect all manufacturing data and utilise this to implement business improvements and provide customers with a proven capability.

 

Therefore the company saw it as a natural step to implement the full complement of integrated systems from 123insight and JETCAM providing what can be described as a centre of excellence.  123insight covers the complete workflow from quote generation through to invoicing. It also provides tight integration with Synergy’s manufacturing systems providing full material handling and traceability controls while also monitoring life Prepreg material storage.

 

Andrew Ellel, Sales and Marketing Director at Synergy says: “The new version of 123insight and its integration with our JETCAM nesting and material control systems will ensure that our customers receive the best quality service possible.”.

 

Synergy Composites Ltd was founded by its current directors in 2007. Each has a wealth of experience within the composite manufacturing industry, specifically within aerospace, having worked on projects such as the F35 Lightning II and Typhoon. They were involved with developing new manufacturing systems and processes through a focused and dedicated cost-effective approach. 

 

The company offers a complete advanced composite manufacturing capability, with the ability to deliver all processes such as hand-lay, Prepreg ("pre-impregnated" composite fibres), through to Resin Transfer Moulding (RTM) and Vacuum Assisted Resin Transfer Moulding (VaRTM).  Synergy has just installed a new heated platen press system that will provide value to existing customer’s processes.

 

Synergy also offers specialist expertise and experience in the manufacture of carbon fibre components and in refining existing composite processes and defining the controlling manufacturing parameters to increase yield and profitability. The company’s team of talented engineers has a long history of successful projects in many industrial sectors.

 

For further information on advanced composite manufacture at Synergy, please contact Andrew Ellel, Sales and Marketing Director, andrew.ellel@synergycomposites.com or 0844 858 0770.

 

Website: www.synergycomposites.com

 

 

 

Umeco plc, an international provider of supply chain services and advanced composite materials primarily to the aerospace & defence industries, today announces that its Process Materials business has entered into a joint venture with its Chinese distributor Shanghai Leadgo Technology Co., Ltd. (“Leadgo”). The joint venture agreement is subject to approval from Chinese authorities. It is anticipated this will be granted within the next two months.

 

The joint venture company (the “JV”), to be named Shanghai Umeco Composites Co., Ltd., will be 51% owned by Umeco Composites Limited, with Leadgo having a 49% stake.  The JV will establish a facility in Shanghai to manufacture vacuum bagging films for the rapidly growing Chinese wind energy market. The new facility should be fully operational by the end of 2011.

 

Umeco currently manufactures the films supplied to Leadgo for the Chinese market at its facility in Italy (“IPM”). Umeco expects that the global growth in the wind energy market will allow IPM to back-fill its production capacity once production for the Chinese market moves to the JV. 

 

Umeco estimates its total investment in the JV will be RMB28m (c. USD 4.1m) comprising a cash investment of USD2.4m for its equity stake in the company and a USD1.7m shareholder loan facility. Leadgo will also make a similar investment and provide a similar loan.  At the outset, the JV will have no other assets.  IPM will receive a technology royalty from the JV following the commencement of production.

 

The JV is forecast to be profitable shortly after production commences; in the start-up period, costs are expected to be modest.
 

Clive Snowdon, CEO of Umeco, stated: “The continued growth of the global wind energy market, despite the economic downturn, reflects the on-going transition to generating power from renewable sources. This joint venture represents another important step in building Umeco’s capability in the world’s largest wind energy market.” 

Website: www.umeco.com

 

 

 

SGS Flies with Airbus - A Collaborative Development to Deliver Competitive Advantage

Despite the growing use of composites in the high-end manufacturing sectors - i.e. aerospace, automotive and power generation - the research into effective machining of composite is still at its infancy. 

 

Conventional metal-cutting tooling is still widely used in machining of composites and could be detrimental to productivity and product quality.  Pioneering research and development through the partnership of Airbus in the UK and precision tool specialists SGS Carbide Tool (UK), is delivering substantial benefits in understanding the most effective machining strategy of aerospace grade carbon fibre reinforced plastics (CFRP) composites for primary aircraft structures.  The breakthrough has elevated both parties to the forefront of knowledge in composite machining. 

 

Case Study

A most recent case study was carried out by SGS with the Manufacturing Engineering Research department of Airbus Wing Centre of Excellence (CoE) in Bristol.  The objective was to evaluate and optimise the machining strategy before production of composite components.

 

SGS first introduced a purpose-designed CFRP composite cutting tool –to Airbus in early 2008.  Early test results did not provide any benefits as compared to baseline PCD tooling.  After introducing number of modifications to the existing design and optimisation of machining conditions, significant improvements in productivity, surface quality and tool life were achieved.  Further benchmark testing has shown that the redesigned router outperformed PCD tooling in a number of instances when machining CFRP composites. 

 

The Airbus trails have also enabled SGS to develop its carbon composite router through real-life test analysis, as Field Sales Manager, Wesley Tonks, explains:

 

“The Airbus collaboration has accelerated the tool’s development significantly, and we have been developing special derivatives of the tools to test , which is to all our customers’ benefit in time.  The results have been extremely beneficial both to us and to Airbus in generating a greater understanding of the most effective methods of machining CFRP composites,” he concluded.

 

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Now available from Cristex, DYNANOTEX is a new range of Carbon fibre tapes and fabrics manufactured by Angeloni srl in Italy.

 

DYNANOTEX is a Tow Spreading System for Uni Directional Carbon Fibre Reinforcements, consisting of two layers of UD Carbon Fibre bonded together by a resin compatible adhesive.

 

DYNANOTEX offers:

• No additional surface treatments.
• Perfect fibre alignment.
• Thickness reduction (35% less than traditional UD reinforcement).
• Low weight reinforcements (70 to 200g/m²) from heavy tow fibres (15K-24K-50K).

Its main advantages are:  

• Perfect alignment of fibre maximises the mechanical performance of the fibres.
• Improvement of interlaminar sheer strength as a result of the perfect bonding of fibre layers.
• Reduction/ elimination of resin build up due to the excellent fibre distribution.

The range includes: 

• UD TAPES with weights from 80g/m² to 175g/m² and widths from 5cm to 100cm.  
• HIGH STABILITY UD TAPES incorporating a surface net of 4g/m² and weights from 47g to 250g.  
• WOVEN FABRICS with weights of 160g to 200g and individual fibre widths of 15mm/ 20mm/ 25mm.  

For further information contact Cristex on 01282 770666.

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In addition Cristex is now appointed as the UK distributor for the Elantas range of epoxy resins and hardeners.

For further information contact Cristex on 01282 770666.
 

 

 

Huntsman Advanced Materials  is seeking to strengthen their position in the rapid prototyping market in the UK and have appointed John Burn to distribute Huntsman  Advanced Materials Stereolithography (SL) Resin range.

 

John Burn’s extensive range of RP materials sets it apart from the competition. The distribution agreement between John Burn and Huntsman advanced Materials illustrates John Burn’s desire to offer the very best in RP material technology at every stage of a product’s development lifecycle and in turn it’s production tooling and manufacture.

• Solido 3D Printers
• Huntsman RenShape® SL materials
• Resins for RIM
• Resins for Vacuum Casting
• Resins for tooling
• Adhesives for bonding parts and prototypes

Huntsman Advanced Materials needed a distributor they could trust and one that had the technical ability to deliver this advanced technology material. They also needed a distributor with similar customer focused values to ensure their regional customers could be sure of the very best service and support in the UK.

 

Huntsman Advanced Materials is a leading global supplier of advanced high performance materials for design, prototyping and manufacturing. With recognised expertise in research, development and production processes, Huntsman Advanced Materials offers a unique and wide range of innovative solutions for all SL requirements.

 

RenShape® SL Photopolymers are technologically advanced stereolithography materials formulated to produce durable, robust models and prototypes with outstanding accuracy, intricate reproduction of detail and a high-quality surface finish.
The Photopolymers are ideal for building snap-fit parts, polypropylene and ABS like prototypes and selectively coloured medical models on the full range of SLA® platforms.

 

The versatile RenShape® SL materials product family includes photopolymers with a variety of physical characteristics including heat deflection temperatures up to 85oC, elongations as high as 30%, flexural strengths from 7,000 to 15,000 psi and good humidity resistance.

 

RenShape® SL materials are also known for their easy processing, high throughput and good green strength. Parts made with the photopolymers are easy to clean and require minimal finishing.

The new Huntsman Advanced Materials SL 7870 material offers a glass-like appearance along with excellent component strength and an ABS like performance. The material is also dimensionally stable in a humid environment.

 

If you are an SL resin user and at the stage where you are considering a vat change why not give us a call to discuss what John Burn can offer you along with all your other rapid prototyping needs.
 
Contact:
Ben Peterson – Marketing Manager |John Burn
Tel: 07771 813790 | Email: ben@johnburn.co.uk
 

 

 

 

Polymat “Free-Flow” to be launched at Composites Europe

Composite Europe this year saw the launch of a new product to the Polymat Range.  Polymat “Free-Flow”, a mechanically stitch bonded reinforcement fabric consisting of a needle bonded core sandwiched between chopped glass fibres, will increase the product range offered by Scott & Fyfe to the closed mould market.

Along with Polymat “Hi-Flow”, Polymat “Free-flow” will create solutions to companies seeking an ideal reinforcement for moulding GRP parts using closed mould techniques.

Polymat “Free-Flow” offers a number of benefits including high conformability to complex shapes along with ease of handling and cutting. It has good elongation in all directions and provides an excellent surface finish, a must have for moulders manufacturing cosmetic parts.

Scott & Fyfe is an independent, privately owned industrial textile manufacturer. Operating from four manufacturing sites based in Scotland, Mexico and China, Scott & Fyfe are global providers of innovative textiles and technology. With a division specialising in glass fibre reinforcement materials for the FRP industry, Scott & Fyfe produce a wide range of innovative reinforcements suitable for today's advanced composite manufacturing systems.  All of their fabrics have been individually engineered in close collaboration with their customers to meet the stringent requirements of the most demanding manufacturing techniques and applications. From contact moulding to R.T.M., they can design and manufacture a reinforcement that provides a cost effective solution with the specified mechanical performance.

Website: www.scott-fyfe.com

 

 

 

“Instant” Re-usable Silicone Bags for Vacuum Moulding 

A new system available through Bentley Chemicals that features spray-on, or brush-on, “instant” silicone bags that can be used over and over again for moulding composites under vacuum is already bringing major production benefits. The bags can be easily made by the operator in as little as 30 minutes and the process is much faster, cheaper and greener than the traditional methods widely used in aerospace, automotive and marine composite moulding.

 
The silicone bags are more resistant to heat and chemical attack from resins, the process is non-hazardous and has no odour and the bags can be used over and over again with a comparatively long shelf life. It has been estimated that the new process is already saving up to 90% of labour costs.

The Company has already helped to pioneer its use in motor racing - working closely with a racing team, it has been able to help them dramatically reduce the time taken to mould complex composite parts – and it is now working with a major marine manufacturer to research how the system can benefit its production processes.

The silicone has been developed by Smooth-On in the United States and the bags are created by either spraying or brushing the special silicone onto a composite profile already sitting inside the mould. Once it has cured, the bag is simply peeled away and stored ready for use in the vacuum process. 

Vacuum bagging is a technique that creates mechanical pressure onto a laminate during its cure cycle. Pressurising a composite laminate serves several functions. First, it removes trapped air between layers; secondly, it compacts and strengthens the fibre layers; thirdly, it reduces humidity and finally, it optimises the fibre-to-resin ratio in the composite part. Composite mouldings produced by the process have a very high strength to weight ratio.

Traditionally vacuum bags have been made out of polypropylene. The materials are expensive, the bags can only be used once and are quite time consuming and fiddly to apply. They also quite commonly leave marks on the surface of the moulding where the bag has not completely vacuumed flat.

“We know that this new silicone bag system has major potential for many composite moulding applications currently using the vacuum process,” commented Richard Watson from Bentley, “we are looking forward to working closely with fabricators to see them reap the major benefits that it can bring.”

Website: www.bentleychemicals.co.uk

 

External recognition for DSM’s innovative bio-based resin Palapreg ECO

After its initial launch in April 2010, DSM’s 55% bio-based resin Palapreg® ECO is clearly gaining external recognition. Recently two innovation awards were granted to DSM Composite Resins for its breakthrough product. Palapreg® ECO is the Composite Resin with the highest biorenewable content among all bio-based resins currently available in the market. Winning these two awards, the product’s outstanding and innovative properties are now triply recognized.

Frost & Sullivan awarded the first prize called “New Product Innovation Award in the Automotive Industry” for responding to the key industry challenge in reduction of the harmful impact of fossil-based raw materials to the environment. As stated in the Frost & Sullivan jury-report: “There is a clear need for moving away from traditional non-renewable raw materials to renewable sources, in order to be successful in the global automotive plastics market, companies are forced to develop bio-based polymers with a very high renewable content.”

The first prize for innovation in the category “Raw Materials” has been awarded by the China Composites Expo, Beijing on September 15th 2010. Palapreg® ECO was presented at the Show in the form of a new kayak model, designed by TAHE Marine, one of the biggest European kayak manufacturers based in Estonia.

“We are very proud to be elected for two very prestigious industry awards, that clearly recognize us as an innovation leader in Composite Solutions”, says Michael Effing, President DSM Composites Resins. “We at DSM are committed to sustainability and innovation in Performance Materials. Palapreg® ECO helps to offer our customers in the global Composites industry a high-performance
solution with the lowest eco footprint over the value chain.”

Palapreg ECO not only matches the performance of petrochemical based materials in the market, but in some applications and functionalities, it even outperforms some of the best conventional, oil–based plastics systems. Due to the technological route chosen by DSM the level of bio-renewable content of the product can eventually be raised to 100%.

Website: www.dsmcompositeresins.com

Marketing Company Specializing in Composites Becomes a New Composites UK Member

 

A recent addition to the Composites UK membership is Outsourcing B2B Marketing, based in Northamptonshire. They are the first marketing and publicity business to become a member. Outsourcing B2B Marketing specializes in industrial marketing, particularly composites, as the founder, Nigel O’Dea, spent nine years working in the composites market for a resin supplier before setting up Outsourcing B2B Marketing in 2009. A year on, the business is established, having secured a number of UK and overseas customers.

Depending on your needs and budget, Outsourcing B2B Marketing provides a range of services from strategic marketing planning to the delivery of key sales support marketing tools, website, e marketing and other promotional marketing communications projects.  Nigel O’Dea commented: “Even the best product needs effective marketing, and increasingly now, using the range of internet based options available”. He went on to say: “My business appeals to companies feeling frustrated that they simply don’t have enough time or expertise to do more effective marketing and publicity. That’s where we come in.   We offer all the benefits of a big marketing team, but only when you need it.” 

Over the last 14 months, Scott Bader has used the publicity services of Outsourcing B2B Marketing to write and get published news releases and application case study feature stories.  During this time, they have benefited from regular press coverage in key composites, marine and related specialist sector websites and magazines, with over 50 successful publications to date. 

The most recent publicity was seen on the first day of the UK Composites Engineering Show at the end of Sept, where an open forum technical presentation was given by a technical service chemist from Scott Bader about their recent R & D advances in urethane acrylates and intumescent coating technology for fire retardant composite systems.  This technical presentation opportunity came about due to earlier press coverage of the Wright Composites application feature article, which appeared in JEC Composites magazine Aug/Sept issue No. 59 and on the Netcomposites.com website, about their use of FIREGUAD 75PA Excel intumescent topcoat.  

This extensive PR coverage, a key part of Scott Bader’s marketing communications strategy. It has raised its brand visibility, supported its sales activities and resulted in new business.  
 

A video on the ‘Power of Publicity’, and further information about Outsourcing B2B Marketing and the range of services offered can be found on line at: www.outsourcingb2bmarketing.com. 

Alternatively e mail info@outsourcingb2bmarketing.com  or call 01536 210133.
 

 

Composites in Manufacturing Launches at the Composites Engineering Show 2010

The first edition of Composites in Manufacturing (CiM) is available to view now at www.composites-manufacturing.com and was launched at the Composites Engineering and co-located Aero Engineering event, which took place at the Birmingham NEC from 29-30 September.

Starting with the Autumn 2010 edition and followed by a second issue in March 2011, CiM will be distributed with all UK issues of Aerospace Manufacturing and the entire circulation of Production Engineering Solutions – a combined total of 20,000 copies. CiM will also be distributed at the Autosport Engineering Show (13-14 January 2011, Birmingham NEC) and at Southern Manufacturing (16-17 February, FIVE, Farnborough). The March 2011 edition will be distributed at JEC Composites Paris (March 29-31).

The new journal has been developed specifically for the entire UK composite materials supply chain and features exclusive editorial throughout, covering all the latest innovations and developments across the industry, including key technology sectors such as Aerospace, Automotive, Marine, Power Generation and Wind Energy - areas where our readers are key decision makers. 

CiM will help grow the novice’s awareness of composites whilst keeping professionals informed of the latest industry developments. With exclusive features written by experienced industry journalists, the aim of CiM is to become a leading source of impartial and informed comment relating to the design, manufacture and supply chain of composite materials. In essence, CiM will provide the skills and knowledge required to be successful in the development and production of composite materials and products.

 

Those interested in featuring in the next issue, please contact the editor, Simon Lott on 01634 830566 or email editorial@composites-manufacturing.com by 18th February 2011.

 

If you would like further information on advertising opportunities, please contact Phil Sloan on 01634 830566 or email sales@composites-manufacturing.com before the copy deadline of Friday February 25th 2011.

 

If you would like to register to receive the next edition of CiM, please contact John Slayman on 01634 830566 or email circulation@composites-manufacturing.com.

 

 

 

IDAC is hosting a Simulation Open Day for Engineering Professionals interested in simulation software and techniques.  This event will exhibit the capabilities of using simulation in an engineering environment and aims to be informative and interactive.

The day will feature presentations and demonstrations on different engineering simulation technologies and their applications available to the engineering community. There will also be a chance to attend one of five specialist sessions, as well as an opportunity to engage in a consultative session with our Consultants.
Our staff will be at hand to answer any questions and will give our attendees a chance to view, use and discuss the Simulation Software available at IDAC. 

All open day attendees will receive a free copy of ANSYS/ED v10.0.

Please email info@idac.co.uk to request further information.
 

 

UKTI Acclaimed by Peers as Best Trade Promotion Body in Developed World

 

UK Trade & Investment (UKTI) has been acclaimed by its peers as the best trade promotion agency in the developed world.

 

The award was announced at the International Trade Centre's Trade Promotion Organization (TPO) Network Awards 2010 in Mexico.

 

More than 150 participants from 50 countries attended the awards ceremony, where delegates were looking at how to build export success, and how trade promotion agencies can help in a changing global environment.

 

Business Secretary Dr. Vince Cable said: 

"I am a firm believer in the benefits of trade and investment.  In a globalised world, UK companies need to think strategically and plan ahead for an international future. It's not enough to sit back and hope that business opportunities will drop into your Inbox.

 

"UK Trade & Investment has an impressive track record of helping UK firms to work out export strategies, identify opportunities and make international business happen.

 

“This award is testament to the hard work carried out by Sir Andrew Cahn and the UKTI team around the world. I want to see more companies taking up the help on offer and spreading the word that exporting is good for companies, good for Britain and good for our economic future."

 

Speaking from Brussels, Foreign Secretary William Hague said:

"The Government is committed to helping UK businesses succeed overseas and to attracting inward investment. Our ambition for the next five years is to make Britain one of the most competitive business environments anywhere in the developed world, the best place in Europe to set up and run and a business, and home to the most competitive corporate tax system in the G20. This will make a demonstrable difference to the British economy and will create new opportunities for our partners overseas as well as for our own British-based business. This award celebrates the hard work carried out by UKTI teams in almost 100 countries around the world. Well done to UKTI  for getting this award."

 
The awards recognise excellence in developing export initiatives, and UKTI’s development of a programme called “Gateway to Global Growth”, aimed at small and medium-sized firms with some export experience, was cited as the reason for its nomination.

 

Sir Andrew Cahn, Chief Executive of UKTI, said:

“When I joined UKTI almost five years ago, I set my teams the goal of becoming the best trade promotion body in the world. I want to congratulate everyone in UKTI for delivering on that vision. The task now is to translate that excellence into even more British exports, and an even higher level of inward investment, to contribute to the growth that the UK economy needs.” 

 

Factfile

 

• In the last 12 months, UKTI helped around 25,000 businesses to generate £5 billion for the UK economy. 

• For every £1 spent, UKTI generates £19 for the UK economy.

• UKTI has a network that extends to almost 100 overseas markets, which generate 98% of world GDP. It also has a presence in the UK regions and online at www.ukti.gov.uk.

• Ninety per cent of UKTI’s customers are small and medium-sized businesses.

 

Gateway to Global Growth

 

Gateway to Global Growth is a service to experienced exporters which offers a 12-month programme of tailored strategic support to help companies grow overseas. The programme offers a strategic review with an experienced International Trade Adviser to assess trade development needs and construct a next steps action plan; guidance and mentoring from export professionals and support on specialist subjects. It also includes access to UK Trade & Investment’s international network; assistance with market research, language and culture and networking opportunities to learn from other exporters.

 

Gateway helps a firm to maximise opportunities and reduce the risk of entering new markets; overcome barriers to new and difficult markets; develop company skills and save time and money in achieving international trade goals. 

 

www.ukti.gov.uk