Category Archives: Manufacturing sector

GSK reports promising early results in ovarian and womb cancer drug trial

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Mo-Rez reduced or eliminated tumours in over 60% of patients and is expected to be a blockbuster drug

GSK has revealed positive results for a treatment for gynaecological cancers as its chief executive, Luke Miels, seeks to speed up drug development at the group.

The company said that in an early-stage trial Mocertatug Rezetecan, known as Mo-Rez, shrank or eliminated tumours in 62% of patients with ovarian cancer where chemotherapy had failed, and in 67% of those with endometrial cancer.

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Iran war threatens to delay large offshore wind projects in EU and UK

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Industry fears strait of Hormuz closure could disrupt shipping of crucial parts for UK and German North Sea projects

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A string of large offshore wind projects in Europe are facing potential delays as the Iran war threatens to disrupt shipping of crucial parts manufactured in the Gulf.

Industry sources are concerned that components ordered from suppliers in the United Arab Emirates could become trapped if shipping remains effectively blocked through the strait of Hormuz.

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Irish metals refinery is in supply chain that feeds Russian war machine, records suggest

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Shipments to Russian smelters from Aughinish Alumina have increased sharply since the invasion of Ukraine

A leading Irish metals refinery is part of an international aluminium supply chain that appears to conclude with shipments to arms producers feeding the Kremlin’s war machine in Ukraine, leaked records and public data suggests.

Trading records show that shipments to Russian smelters from Aughinish Alumina, which is located on the Shannon estuary in the west of Ireland and has been owned by the Russian aluminium group Rusal since 2006, have increased sharply since the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

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Bentley to cut hundreds of UK jobs amid ‘challenging global market environment’

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Carmaker reduces office-based roles and will not fill vacancies ‘to ensure long-term competitiveness of business’

Bentley is to cut 275 jobs in the UK as the carmaker faces a “challenging global market environment”.

The luxury brand, owned by Germany’s Volkswagen, is preparing to launch its first all-electric model but acknowledged it had some work to do to persuade consumers to switch away from internal combustion engine vehicles.

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European Commission proposes ‘Buy EU’ plan to compete against China

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Plan, which aims to preserve jobs in clean tech and low carbon sectors, could include UK if there is reciprocal market access

The European Commission has proposed a “Buy EU” plan to boost domestic low-carbon industries and help the continent compete against China.

The commission published a draft regulation – called the Industrial Accelerator Act – on Wednesday, setting demands for EU-made and low-carbon content on bodies spending public money. The rules mark a major shift in economic thinking from Brussels, long a bastion of open markets.

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Rolls-Royce boss ‘open’ to Germany joining UK’s fighter jet project

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Tufan Erginbilgiç says decision is for the government but German participation remains a possibility

The boss of Rolls-Royce has said he would welcome Germany helping to build Britain’s next-generation fighter jet, arguing it would bring in more business for the project.

The aircraft, designed to replace the Eurofighter Typhoon, is a joint effort between the UK, Italy and Japan. Rolls-Royce is building the engine for the jet, which has attracted fresh attention as plans for a rival Franco-German warplane edge towards collapse.

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Aston Martin issues another profit warning and sells F1 naming rights for £50m

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Struggling British carmaker says earnings for 2025 will be worse than City forecasts as US tariffs hit sales

Aston Martin has warned that its losses will be worse than expected and sold its permanent naming rights to its Formula One team, as the struggling British carmaker battles to stabilise its finances.

The luxury carmaker, majority-owned by the Canadian billionaire Lawrence Stroll, said its earnings for 2025 would be worse than City forecasts, its fifth profit warning since September 2024.

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Boost to British Steel as Turkey places high-speed rail order

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‘Eight-figure agreement’ made to supply new line between Ankara and İzmir – but questions over plant’s future remain

British Steel has secured an order worth tens of millions of pounds to supply rail for a high-speed electric railway in Turkey, amid continuing uncertainty over the long-term future of the government-controlled steelworks in Scunthorpe.

The site will supply 36,000 tonnes of rail to ERG International Group, the company announced, in what it called an “eight-figure agreement”.

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Ineos to cut a fifth of Hull jobs, blaming ‘dirt-cheap’ imports from China

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Company says more roles will be at risk unless UK government supports tariffs to protect industry

Ineos, the chemicals company owned by the billionaire Sir Jim Ratcliffe, is to cut a fifth of jobs at its East Yorkshire plant, blaming “sky high” energy costs and “dirt-cheap” imports from China.

The company founded in 1998 by Ratcliffe, who co-owns Manchester United FC, said it would cut 60 jobs at the Acetyls site in Hull, which makes petrochemical products such as acetic acid. It said more roles would be at risk across the industry unless the government stepped in.

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Jaguar Land Rover parts makers asked by banks to put up homes as loan security after hack

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Lobby group says urgent government intervention required as small suppliers on brink of collapse during shutdown

Small companies who supply parts used in Jaguar Land Rover cars have been asked by banks to put up their family homes as personal guarantees in order to access emergency loans, with no direct UK government support on offer for parts makers a month after the carmaker was hit by a crippling cyber-attack.

JLR, Britain’s biggest automotive employer, is considering making advance payments to top-tier suppliers as it tries to restart production after the hack, but smaller parts makers warn they are on the brink of collapse without urgent cash injections.

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Jaguar Land Rover says cyber-attack has affected ‘some data’

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Carmaker has informed relevant regulators and ‘will contact anyone as appropriate’ as investigation progresses

The cyber-attack on Jaguar Land Rover has affected data held by the carmaker, it has said, as its factories in the UK and abroad face prolonged closure.

JLR, Britain’s biggest carmaker, said on Wednesday that in its investigations into the hack, which first emerged last week, it had now discovered data had been breached.

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Pre-budget lift for Rachel Reeves as UK business confidence rises

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Despite concerns about economy, poll shows optimism about trading prospects at highest level since 2014

Confidence among UK businesses has grown despite anxiety about the state of the economy, in a rare slice of positive news for the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, in the run-up to her autumn budget.

An August poll of UK companies by Lloyds Bank showed that improved sentiment among manufacturers and retailers helped push overall optimism within UK plc up by two percentage points, with 54% of companies now feeling confident in the current environment.

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Norway wealth fund sells Caterpillar stake over Israel allegations

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World’s largest wealth fund says it has excluded bulldozer maker and five Israeli banking groups on ethics grounds

The world’s largest wealth fund has excluded Caterpillar, the construction equipment manufacturer, over Israel’s use of its bulldozers to destroy Palestinian property in Gaza and the West Bank.

Norway’s $2tn (£1.5tn) fund said on Monday it had excluded Caterpillar and five Israeli banking groups on ethics grounds.

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Government to cover pay and pensions at collapsed South Yorkshire steelworks

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Unions receive assurances after state takes control of Liberty Steel plants that collapsed into administration

Workers at the UK’s third-largest steelworks in South Yorkshire have been assured they will receive their pay for August as well as unpaid pension contributions, after a government-appointed special manager took over the collapsed company.

Liberty Steel’s main British business, Speciality Steel UK (SSUK), collapsed into administration on Thursday afternoon after a high court judge ruled that it was insolvent and that its owner, the metals tycoon Sanjeev Gupta, had no prospects of repaying debts of several hundred million pounds.

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Airbus workers vote to strike for 10 days next month in pay dispute

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Unite says stoppages at Broughton and Filton factories could disrupt production of wings and delay deliveries

Thousands of Airbus workers in the UK are to go on strike for 10 days in September in a row over pay that threatens to disrupt the production of aircraft wings.

A series of two-day strikes are planned to begin on 2 September and continue throughout the month at the company’s factories in Broughton, north Wales, and Filton, near Bristol, according to Unite.

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UK metals firms threaten to sue government over tariffs on steel imports from Asia

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Companies send letter to business secretary complaining new rules were imposed with 24 hours’ notice

UK metals companies have threatened to take legal action against the government over tariffs on raw steel imports from Asia which they claim have caused a “tsunami” of problems for the industry.

Earlier this summer, the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, reduced the amount of raw steel from Vietnam and South Korea that can be imported tariff-free in a move designed to protect UK raw steel makers, which face competition from cheap imports.

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Business secretary to meet Lotus chiefs amid doubts over future of operations

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Jonathan Reynolds to hold talks with carmaker after reports suggested its UK factory could close

The business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, will hold talks with Lotus after the carmaker appeared to shelve plans to shut its UK operations.

After reports that Chinese owner Geely was planning to stop manufacturing at the Hethel plant in Norfolk, putting 1,300 jobs at risk, Lotus issued a statement saying it had “no plans” to close the factory.

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UK government unveils £275m investment in training and apprenticeships in England

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Labour makes funding centrepiece of its industrial strategy in bid to counter Reform’s surge in so-called red wall

The government will present a £275m investment in technical training and apprenticeships as the centrepiece of its long-awaited industrial strategy, in a direct challenge to Nigel Farage’s growing influence in England’s manufacturing heartlands.

The package, announced by the business secretary, Jonathan Reynolds, on Sunday, includes funding for new technical excellence colleges, short courses in artificial intelligence (AI) and digital manufacturing, and major capital upgrades to training providers across England.

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Trump threatens to keep 25% tariff on UK steel imports over Port Talbot concerns

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Exclusive: Sources say US wants information on when importing of raw materials from abroad at Port Talbot site will stop

Donald Trump is threatening to keep 25% tariffs on some or all of its steel imports from the UK unless it gives specific guarantees over the Indian-owned steelmaking plant at Port Talbot in south Wales, sources have told the Guardian.

An agreement to reduce tariffs on UK car exports to the US and scrap them for the aerospace sector was signed off by the US president and Keir Starmer on Monday, on the sidelines of the G7 summit in Canada.

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Trump indicates ‘positive’ progress in US-EU trade talks

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Wall Street up in early trading after US president commends bloc for calling to ‘quickly establish meeting dates’

Donald Trump has indicated there has been progress in US trade talks with the EU, helping send share prices rising on Wall Street, after he commended the bloc for calling to “quickly establish meeting dates”.

“I have just been informed that the EU has called to quickly establish meeting dates. This is a positive event, and I hope that they will,” Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform on Tuesday, saying the EU would be “very happy and successful” if it agreed a deal.

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