• Company has now exported cars to 37 different countries worldwide following support from the Department for International Trade
• International Trade Secretary Liz Truss hails firm for putting “innovation from the Northern Powerhouse on the map.”

Liverpool-based supercar manufacturer Briggs Automotive Company (BAC) has secured new export wins to the United States and Hong Kong to the value of £20 million, following support from the Department for International Trade (DIT).

The company manufactures the world’s only road-legal, single-seat supercar, the BAC Mono, and launched a higher-powered, lighter, next-generation model – the BAC Mono R – in July 2019 to global acclaim.

Founded in 2009 by brothers Neill and Ian Briggs, the company has grown and now employs 30 members of staff, with dealership agreements in place in the USA, Canada, Hong Kong, Japan, Sweden and Mexico. In January 2017, DIT awarded BAC Export Champion status.

BAC strategically targeted the United States – the number one luxury goods market in the world – approaching potential dealers across the country. In 2019, the company signed two new dealership agreements with Manhattan Motorcars in New York and Tactical Fleet in Dallas.

Meanwhile, in Hong Kong, the hugely successful BAC Hong Kong contract was renewed with further Monos exported to the region and a number of Mono R supercars to follow.

I’m absolutely delighted that DIT has helped BAC to hit the accelerator on its exports. This is a wonderful example of a UK company that is putting manufacturing and innovation from the Northern Powerhouse on the map.

The UK’s heritage in automotive and motorsports is a huge asset, and my department is working to shift our exports up a gear in this exciting and fast moving industry.

These new export wins are a sign of how far we’ve come as a business in recent years and the immense work we’re doing with exports.

Our solid export strategy, fantastic team ethic, exemplary product and – of course – invaluable support from the DIT means we have the ultimate recipe for success overseas. We will continue to strive to put British manufacturing on the map for the foreseeable future.

Performance car manufacturing and motorsport contribute billions of pounds to the UK economy every year. According to research published by the Motorsport Industry Association, there are around 41,000 people employed in UK motorsport, of which 25,000 are engineers.

The sector is seeing rapid growth as global car manufacturers are increasingly turning to UK motorsports companies for help with the development of low carbon technology for road cars.

Motorsport Valley in the UK is the undisputed leader in global motorsport having a dominant role in Formula 1 and other international racing series. Home to some 4,500 design, precision and high-performance engineering companies, the motorsports sector is behind enormous levels of investment in R&D.

Over 25,000 highly skilled engineers work in Motorsport Valley, while 30 UK universities and over 140 colleges are now teaching about motorsport.

The facility will see UKAEA working with industrial partners to put the UK in a strong position to commercialise nuclear fusion as a major source of low-carbon electricity in the years ahead.

Located at the heart of the UK’s advanced manufacturing region, the UKAEA base will bring 40 highly-skilled jobs to the South Yorkshire area, and foster increased collaboration with research organisations including the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), and the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (NAMRC).

It will be sited at the Advanced Manufacturing Park, whose existing occupiers include Rolls-Royce, McLaren Automotive and both the AMRC and NAMRC. It will be funded as part of the Government’s Nuclear Sector Deal delivered through the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. An additional £2M of investment is coming from Sheffield City Region’s Local Growth Fund.

The key role of the facility will be to develop and test joining technologies for fusion materials and components – for example novel metals and ceramics. These will then be tested and evaluated under conditions simulating the inside of a fusion reactor (including high heat flux, in-vacuum, and strong magnetic fields).

The site will help UK companies win contracts as part of ITER – the key international fusion project being built in the south of France. Looking further ahead, it will enable technology development for the first nuclear fusion power plants, which are already being designed.

The planned 25,000 sq. ft facility will require regular supplies of specialist metals and materials – providing further opportunities for regional companies in the UK.

Colin Walters, director of the National Fusion Technology Platform at UKAEA, said:

Momentum is growing in fusion research and we believe the opening of this facility in South Yorkshire represents a practical step towards developing power plants.

This facility will provide fantastic opportunities for UK businesses to win contracts and put UKAEA in a great position to help deliver the necessary expertise for the first nuclear fusion power stations.

Dan Jarvis MBE MP, Sheffield City Region Mayor, said:

The Sheffield City Region is a growing hub of innovation, expertise, and knowledge.

These qualities are among the reasons why the UKAEA have chosen to open a new facility in Rotherham, supported by Local Growth funding from the Sheffield City Region.

As well as creating new skilled jobs and opportunities for collaboration with the nearby research centres, this facility will create opportunities for other businesses as specialist suppliers, boosting the region’s economy and highlighting our world-leading specialisms in advanced manufacturing.

Andrew Storer, Chief Executive Officer of the Nuclear AMRC, added:

We’re delighted to welcome UKAEA to the Advanced Manufacturing Park, and to the Sheffield region’s world-leading cluster of applied innovation. We look forward to working with UKAEA at their new facility to develop manufacturing techniques for fusion power plants and help UK manufacturers win work in this growing global market.

This development has the potential to create many jobs in the local supply chain as fusion technology matures. This is a huge deal for Sheffield and the North, and we are really pleased to have played a part in this and to be working with UKAEA.

Ends

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Notes to Editors:

UK Atomic Energy Authority

The United Kingdom Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) is a UK government research organisation responsible for the development of nuclear fusion. It is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). UKAEA’s headquarters are at Culham Science Centre near Oxford.

Web: www.gov.uk/ukaea

Twitter: @ukaeaofficial

Waverley Advanced Manufacturing Park

The Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) at Waverley is home to some of the world’s biggest manufacturers including Rolls Royce, Boeing and McLaren Automotive. Technology developed at the AMP is already being utilised in leading edge projects including Formula One, the military and commercial aircraft. The AMP site has been developed by Harworth on 150-acres of space that forms part of the wider 740-acre Waverley scheme and benefits from Government enterprise zone status within the Sheffield City Region.

Web: https://harworthgroup.com/projects/advanced-manufacturing-park

Twitter: @harworthgroup

Fusion research

Fusion research aims to copy the process which powers the Sun for a new large-scale source of clean energy here on Earth. When light atomic nuclei fuse together to form heavier ones, a large amount of energy is released. To do this, fuel is heated to extreme temperatures, hotter than the centre of the Sun, forming a plasma in which fusion reactions take place. A commercial power station will use the energy produced by fusion reactions to generate electricity.

Nuclear fusion has huge potential as a long-term energy source that is environmentally responsible (with no carbon emissions) and inherently safe, with abundant and widespread fuel resources (the raw materials are found in seawater and the Earth’s crust).

Researchers at UKAEA are developing a type of fusion reactor known as a ‘tokamak’ – a magnetic chamber in which plasma is heated and controlled. The research is focused on preparing for the international tokamak experiment ITER, now being built in southern France. ITER – due to start up in 2025 – is designed to validate technology for the prototype power stations that are expected to follow it, and if successful should lead to electricity from fusion being on the grid by 2050.

Fusion research at UKAEA is funded by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council and by the European Union under the Euratom treaty.

Reduce the risk of disease, find out where notifiable diseases have been confirmed in England and Wales.

Supporting the launch at Ysgol Penrhyn Dewi, Minister for Environment, Energy and Rural Affairs, Lesley Griffiths said:

In today’s climate it has never been a more important time to innovate in food production and simultaneously tackle environmental, sustainability and social issues.

Cutting saturated fat

VEXo has been developed by husband and wife team chef Andy Holcroft and entomologist Dr Sarah Beynon, who between them have also founded the UK’s first full-time edible insect restaurant Grub Kitchen and the multi award-winning research centre and visitor attraction Dr Beynon’s Bug Farm.

The innovative VEXo can be used in a similar way to minced meat, whilst reducing saturated fat by over 80%. Nearly one-third of 2-15 year olds are overweight or obese, with obesity costing the NHS in Wales around £73 million.

Surge in edible insect market

The edible insect industry has grown at a staggering rate across Europe and North America over the past few years, fueled by an expanding human population demanding new, more sustainable sources of protein.

Insects are exceptionally nutrient-dense and environmentally sustainable to produce,” said VEXo co-inventor Sarah.

Many insects contain weight-for-weight a similar amount of protein to beef and they can contain all nine essential amino acids. Insects can be farmed in high-welfare farms while requiring very little feed, water and space and emitting hardly any greenhouse gases.

Bug Farm Foods was funded by the Welsh Government and Innovate UK under the Small Business Research Initiative (SBRI) project to find a way to harness the nutrients contained in insects and deliver them in a form that is acceptable to our western palettes.

The Student Loans Company (SLC) is warning Freshers and all students to be on their guard as the new term starts, and not be tricked into disclosing any financial details or clicking on links in emails or text messages, as they could be installing malware.

Fraudsters often target students with bogus emails and SMS around the three loan instalment periods in September, January and April each year. In the last two academic years alone SLC’s dedicated counter fraud teams have prevented almost half a million pounds from being phished from students’ loans. The expert teams have a range of methods and fraud analytics to stop scammers in their tracks, but students need to know that they themselves are the best and first line of defence.

Spotting a phishing email or SMS isn’t always easy but the Student Loans Company has five fraud facts to help:

• Be suspicious of any requests for personal or financial information. SLC or Student Finance England (SFE) will never ask you to confirm your bank details or login information by email or text message.

• Phishing emails are often sent in bulk and are unlikely to contain both your first and last name; they commonly start, ‘Dear Student’ so be on guard if see one like this.

• Check the quality of the communication – misspelling, poor punctuation and bad grammar are often tell-tale signs of phishing.

• ‘Failure to respond in 24 hours will result in your account being closed’ – these types of messages are designed to convey a sense of urgency to prompt a quick response.

• Think before you click. If you receive an email or SMS that contains a link that you’re not sure of then try hovering over to check that it goes where it’s supposed to. If you’re still in any doubt don’t risk it, always go direct to the source rather than clicking on a potentially dangerous link.

Steven Darling, Director for Repayment and Counter Fraud Strategy at the Student Loans Company, said: “We’re reminding all students that we’ll never request their personal or banking details by email or text message.

“Online fraudsters are well aware that students are receiving their first instalment of the year soon. They will try to target them and their parents or partners with emails and texts requesting personal and banking details to access their accounts.

Anyone who receives a suspicious email should send it to phishing@slc.co.uk. SLC can investigate the site and ensure it is shut down, to help protect other students.”

Find out more about online safety by watching our phishing video