Feb82017

Expansion for Neath plant provides boost for steel and construction sectors

Welsh Government
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Express Reinforcements Ltd, which is based on the Milland Road Industrial Estate, is investing £150,000 in bespoke machinery and associated IT hardware and software that will increase capacity at the depot. 

The Welsh Government is supporting the project with £65,000 to ensure the investment goes ahead at the Neath facility. 

The investment is essential for the Neath plant – which was formed in 1984 – to meet the growing demand for its products.

The new equipment will not only increase production but will automate the recording of production data during the manufacturing process.

Economy Secretary Ken Skates said: 

“This expansion is important for the sustainable future of the Neath facility and supports both the steel industry in Wales – a priority for the Welsh Government – and the construction industry, one of our key economic sectors.

“Welsh Government funding support was essential to secure this project for Neath that will create and safeguard jobs while the increased production will also open up new supply chain opportunities in Wales and provide further opportunity to manufacture and supply steel products from Wales.”

Andy Lodge, Managing Director of Express: 

“This is a great example of industry and government being aligned and working for the benefit of all stakeholders. This investment will help to give a more stable platform for our Neath business and enhances the long-term sustainability of that business. The spirit of partnership has been excellent to deliver this result.”

Feb82017

News story: New managed print and digital solutions from CCS

HM Government
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A new framework has been launched by CCS to give public sector and government organisations access to managed print and digital solutions.

Customers from charities, schools and NHS trusts, to councils and government departments, can choose from a full range of print and digital solutions, including both fully managed end to end solutions and individual service options.

Services include:

  • print and paper products (including envelopes and labels)
  • digital asset management
  • pre-production services (including basic design and artwork, photograph retouching, typesetting and proofreading)
  • operational print, security print, large format and wide print
  • direct mail and transactional print
  • database management
  • storage, fulfilment and distribution

Benefits include a transparent price model to help organisations achieve savings, and customers can expect savings in the region of 5-20% depending on their print maturity and volumes.

All suppliers on the framework will use their expertise to help customers achieve savings and move to digital solutions, where possible.

Feb82017

Welsh Government investment in steel creates and safeguards 550 jobs

Welsh Government
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Economy Secretary, Ken Skates  confirmed that the Welsh Government had invested £2.8m to help create 90  new steel  jobs in Wales and safeguard a further 477. 

Ken Skates said the  investment at Code Serve in Brynmawr, Dyfed Steels in Llanelli, Express Reinforcements in Neath and Celsa Steel in Cardiff  would help to secure a sustainable future for the Welsh steel industry. 

The Economy Secretary said:  

“The future of the steel industry and steel related businesses are hugely important to manufacturing in Wales. 

“Indeed the steel sector is a key priority for the Welsh Government and I am delighted to announce support for four businesses that between them are investing £8.75m in new facilities, new equipment, expansion projects and environmental improvements in Wales.

“Together their and our investment  will create 90 new jobs and safeguard a further 477 highly skilled jobs in Cardiff and the South  Wales Valleys. 

“The announcement of new jobs is of course always welcome,  but at a time when the sector faces extremely difficult trading conditions and stiff global competition,  the safeguarding of existing jobs is more important than ever to the sustainability of the sector and the growth of our economy.”

The Economy Secretary announce that Dyfed Steels – the largest independent steel stockholder and processor in Wales and the south west – is investing more than £4m in a new manufacturing facility. 

The expansion is  backed by £750,000 of Welsh Government support and will create 30 new jobs and safeguard more than 170  in Carmarthenshire.

The company are currently turning away a significant volume of business annually due to lack of capacity. They have identified expansion opportunities at their Llanelli site, rather than at another of  their sites in England. 

Meanwhile fifty new jobs are being created at Code Serve in Brynmawr following an expansion and relocation plan supported by funding from the Welsh Government.

Code Serve provides comprehensive and specialist fabrication and coded welding services nationwide as well as structural steelwork for major infrastructure projects around the UK.

The company  has outgrown its current facility at the former  AIC Steel site in Newport  and is  relocating to the former Tecweld building on Noble Square Industrial Estate in Brynmawr.

The £1m  investment includes the purchase of new equipment and  is backed by £400K from the Welsh Government’s Repayable Fund for SMEs. 

Express Reinforcements in Neath, a company that specialises in the manufacturing and supply of steel reinforcement products for the construction sector,  are investing £150,000 in bespoke machinery and IT hardware and soft ware to increase capacity. 

The move will create and safeguard 22 jobs and has been  supported by £65,000 from Welsh Government. 

Finally the Welsh Government is providing £1.6m towards major environmental improvements at Celsa Manufacturing (UK)’s two key steel production sites in Cardiff. 

The move  will safeguard up to 280 jobs and support the growth and sustainability of the business.

Celsa Manufacturing (UK) is the UK’s largest manufacturer of steel reinforcement products with 100% of its output produced from recycled scrap. Across its two main sites in Cardiff, it directly employs 600 people, together with 194 full time contractors while its activities in Wales support around 3000 supply chain jobs. 

The investment will help safeguard the future of around 280 jobs including employees, contract workers and supply chain personnel.

Feb82017

Relaunch of the West End Community and Sports Hub – survey

Fraser Macpherson
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I recently participated in a very well-attended meeting at Harris Academy aimed at relaunching the West End Community and Sports Hub.   There was a great mix of local sports clubs there and much enthusiasm. 

To help the West End Community and Sports Hub relaunch to assist with and build community sport in the West End, there is now an on-line survey.   This takes just a couple of minutes to complete and you can access it here.

Feb82017

China’s fixed broadband speed hits almost 12Mbps

East Asia
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A report released by Broadband Development Alliance, a third party research organization, shows the development of broadband speed in China. According to the report, China’s broadband speed grew steadily in the fourth quarter in 2016, with average fixed broadband download speed reaching 11.9 Mbps, that of 3G and 4G network respectively hit 3.89 Mbps and 11.93 Mbps.

With efforts from the Chinese government, broadband speeds have grown very fast since 2015. The coverage of the 4G network expands and the speed increases continuously. China has built the largest 4G network worldwide. The amount of 4G network users accounts for 55% among all mobile users.

There are 13 provincial administrative regions with an average fixed broadband download speed over 12 Mbps. The report ranked the top five provincial administrative regions in fixed broadband download speed as Shanghai, Shandong, Jiangsu, Beijing and Fujian. Among the capital cities and municipalities, Shanghai, Jinan, Fuzhou, Zhengzhou and Beijing are the top five cities in the fixed broadband download speed list.

Judging from the speed of mobile broadband of different operators, China Unicom’s 3G and 4G network download speeds are the highest among the three major operators, which are 4.81 Mbps and 13.72 Mbps respectively.

Meanwhile, according to the report, the average time for fixed broadband users to open the first page is 1.15 second in the fourth quarter in 2016, and the average download speed for web video has reached 9.34 Mbps. Both are faster compared with the previous quarter.