What you’ll need to export animals, products of animal origin and animal by-products in a no-deal Brexit.

Experienced international trade and structured finance professional Diego Folino has joined as Country Head to improve awareness of the organisation in the market and support trade relations between the UK and Mexico.

UKEF is strategically placed to provide competitive and innovative finance to companies in Mexico looking to do business with the UK. The British government is committed to improving its trading relationship with Mexico, and to support this UKEF has over £4 billion available for UK companies exporting to Mexico as well as Mexican buyers of UK goods and services. It can also provide loan guarantees in Mexican Pesos – allowing buyers of goods and services from the UK the flexibility to “buy British and pay local”.

Country Head Diego Folino has taken up office at the British Embassy in Mexico City and will work closely with the Department for International Trade and other UK government departments to deliver on this trading potential.

Diego has over 25 years of experience within the International Financial Sector. He led the launch of the Bank of China’s operations in Mexico and prior to that, successfully led institutions including Bank of New York Mellon Mexico and Standard Chartered as President and Country CEO for several years. Most recently as founder and CEO of Tinto Capital, he successfully advised companies and senior executives of corporate and financial institutions on strategy, business development and investment banking activities.

Diego Folino said “I am excited about this role and about creating stronger trading links between Mexico and the UK. The UK has a global reputation for excellence across a wide a range of sectors, and I look forward to bringing the benefits of that expertise to Mexico’s rapidly growing economy.”

Commenting on the appointment, Richard Simon Lewis, Head of Origination, Client Coverage, Marketing and Communications at UK Export Finance said “UKEF is committed to expanding the global reach of the UK’s companies into Mexico and across the wider Latin American region. Diego’s appointment represents the strength of that commitment and I look forward to working together to forge strong links into this key market as UKEF builds out its overseas network.”

Notes to Editors:

About UKEF

Established in 1919, UKEF is the UK Government’s Export Credit Agency, helping buyers around the world trade with UK suppliers by offering attractive financing options. Alongside long repayment terms, UKEF has the ability to support a wide range of financing structures and offers one of the most flexible local content requirements of any credit agency in the world. Full details of its products and services are available on its website.

Today the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory Chief Executive announced investment of £3.2m in a new research project to explore the latest vehicle technologies to boost the performance of UK Future Ground Combat Vehicles.

The project, led by QinetiQ, will focus on innovative solutions for ground vehicle mobility, exploiting the potential provided by electric drive systems.

The aim of this project is to assess which of the latest technologies can be applied to future ground combat vehicles, and how those technologies would integrate with current systems. This enables UK Defence to invest into the right technology in a focused and assured way, reducing the risk and saving potentially millions of pounds.

Gary Aitkenhead, Dstl Chief Executive, said

Technology changes the way we do things in every aspect of our daily lives. This is never truer than adapting the way we work, even on the battlefield. We are working in partnership with QinetiQ to deliver a three-year programme, which will move from concept studies to prototype testing in a real-world environment. This project will help ensure we have the best ground fleet ever.

In particular, the project will investigate advanced running gear solutions for wheeled manned and autonomous vehicles to close the gap between the mobility of wheeled and tracked vehicles. The running gear will integrate with QinetiQ’s world-leading, in-wheel electric hub drive technology and the two combined will deliver significant benefits in armoured vehicle design. The solutions will enable platforms with significant increases in operational and tactical mobility along with survivability and fuel efficiency benefits.

A spokesperson from QinetiQ said:

QinetiQ has supported UK Defence for decades – channelling the expertise of our engineers, scientists and many employees who have, themselves, served on the front line.

This knowledge has enabled us to develop solutions, such as our electric hub drive technology, which can truly change the way we operate on the battlefield and enable the use of power-demanding payloads, bringing added benefits to capability and the wider mission.

In addition, the studies will explore controls for active suspension – looking at electric and hydraulic options; advanced tyre technologies, benefits for vehicle design, terrain scanning and sensing, use of optical and light detection and ranging (LiDAR) with other sensor systems – such as RADAR – with an integrated control system, using advanced data processing/fusion techniques coupled with the application of novel materials.

The collaborative partnership is led by defence and technology company, QinetiQ, and brings together a wealth of industry and academic experience, including Cranfield University, Formula 1 motorsports engineers – Williams Advanced Engineering, military vehicle suspension specialists – Horstman Defence Systems, vehicle development and safety consultants – MIRA, control systems experts – Contract Innovation and innovation and simulation leaders – Catalyst Corporation.

The first phase of the programme, one year in duration, will focus on studies, concepts and modelling; followed by a second, two-year phase of prototyping and testing on a mobile test rig, validating the benefits in a practical environment.

The Regulator of Social Housing (the regulator) has made 3 statutory appointments to the board of Westmoreland Supported Housing Limited. Westmoreland provides supported housing, working with care providers to deliver accommodation for vulnerable adults with complex learning and physical disabilities.

It provides 1,381 supported housing units across 112 local authorities.

Harold Brown, Senior Assistant Director and head of the regulator’s Investigation and Enforcement team, said:

We have been working with Westmoreland on an on-going basis to address the issues set out in the Regulatory Judgement published in November 2018 and Regulatory Notice published in May 2019. We have made these appointments following our most recent engagement with Westmoreland, to ensure that the existing board members have support to address the weaknesses in the provider’s governance and financial management.

We will publish an updated Regulatory Judgement in due course. Our priority in taking regulatory action is to ensure that the interests of Westmoreland’s tenants remain protected”.

The current Regulatory Judgement and Regulatory Notice are available on our website.

Further information

1. The statutory appointments have been made under s269 of the Housing and Regeneration Act 2008.

2. Our regulatory judgements and notices, and Gradings under review are listed on our website.

3. Our regulatory standards are also available on our website.

4. RSH promotes a viable, efficient and well-governed social housing sector able to deliver homes that meet a range of needs. It does this by undertaking robust economic regulation focusing on governance, financial viability and value for money that maintains lender confidence and protects the taxpayer. It also sets consumer standards and may take action if these standards are breached and there is a significant risk of serious detriment to tenants or potential tenants. More information about RSH is on our website.

5. For press office contact details, see our Media enquiries page. For general queries, please email enquiries@rsh.gov.uk or call 0300 124 5225.

Published 11 September 2019

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