NEWS www.themanufacturer.com/news
Closures
Imperial Tobacco announced it is to close two manufacturing sites, including one in the UK, resulting in the loss of 540 jobs. The Nottingham factory has been earmarked for closure along with its French plant based in Nantes. both will bhut down gradually over the next two years with 900 jobs cut overall. Imperial Tobacco cited declining sales as a factor behind the closures. Its Nottingham cigarette factory and distribution centre is currently operating at half capacity. The firm, which produces cigarette brands including Lambert and Butler, JPS and Gauloises, said a consultation on the firm’s restructure plans had begun with unions. Read more about the closures at bit.ly/1nopFgh A Honda distribution centre in Swindon announced the loss of 135 jobs. South Marston Distribution Centre, which is owned by the Honda but operates as a separate subsidiary, is to make the cut backs following an announcement from the Japanese car maker that 500 jobs are to go at its Swindon manufacturing site. SDC, which stores and prepares the parts used to build Honda cars, currently employs 721 people of which 234 are temporary workers. After the cuts have been carried out, the temporary figure will reduce to 99, although a decision has yet to be made as to which individuals will be let go. Read more about the job cuts at bit.ly/1gZIIIq
12 www.themanufacturer.com | May 2014 | Issue 4| Volume 17
The Ford Fiesta is the UK’s top selling car
Industry figures
UK new car registrations have Top selling cars in the UK reached a 10 year high according March 2014 to the latest quarterly figures from 1 Ford Fiesta 25,753 SMMT. Demand for new 14-plate pushed March figures to 464,824 new 2 Ford Focus 16,860 car registrations, a rise of 17.7%. The growth is the biggest seen since 2004 3 Vauxhall Corsa 16,231 when new car registrations reached 4 VW Golf 13,142 466,954, the highest number since the move to twice yearly plate changes 5 Vauxhall Astra 11,359 in 1999. SMMT chief executive Mike 6 Nissan Qashqai 8,858 Hawes said he expected the market to continue to perform positively for 7 VW Polo 8,306 the rest of the year, albeit “at a more 8 Fiat 500 8,136 modest rate,” stating attractive finance deals and advanced technologies 9 BMW 3 Series 7,782 making new car purchasing a serious 10 Toyota Yaris 7,438 consideration for motorists looking to purchase. “New car registrations surged 17.7% in March to 464,824 units, a surprisingly strong level of growth and a reflection of intensifying consumer confidence and the availability of great new products,” said Mike Hawes, SMMT Chief Executive. “Given the past six years of subdued economic performance across the UK, there is still a substantial margin of pent-up demand that is contributing to a strong new and used car market.” See the video at bit.ly/1ktOqaW
SKILLS
Construction began on the new £32m Institute for Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering, which is set to open in Coventry next September. Dubbed as the UK’s first dedicated ‘faculty on the factory floor,’ the joint project between Coventry University and Unipart will provide manufacturing and R&D space for training over 40 undergraduates and post graduates in its first year. Its aim is to develop the next generation of highly skilled, specialist engineers and operational leaders by providing students with direct access to Unipart’s operations. Trainees will work on ‘live’ issues in a real world production environment. All available courses have been shaped by leaders from academia and industry, with a particular focus on design, metrology, manufacturing and mechanical systems.