Pictured: Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP and Shaun
Moloney
Thursday 24th November saw the Rt Hon Dr Vince Cable MP,
Secretary of State for the Department of Business, Innovation and
Skills welcome Atlas Composites Managing Director Shaun Moloney and
200 other select guests to the official opening of the National
Composites Centre (NCC).
For most it was an opportunity see first hand the 8,500 m2,
£25million centre for innovation with its latest
state-of-the-art machinery, including a world-leading
£2.5million automatic fibre placement robotic system.
With the UK composites market - driven by growth sectors such as
Aerospace and Wind Energy - expected to grow by around 8% per annum
to 2020 the importance of composites and in particular SME's such
as Atlas Composites to the future of UK manufacturing cannot be
under estimated.
In November 2009 the Government launched the UK Composites
Strategy to ensure the UK has the means to succeed in intensely
competitive global markets, something which Dr Cable is keen to
exploit.
"Here in the UK we are very good at invention, but we need to do
more to innovate and turn our ideas into products and jobs," said
Cable. "I don't want the UK to miss out on any opportunities to
create economic growth through manufacturing."
"This NCC will work with our world class universities and
international businesses based in the South West and across the UK,
to develop and commercialise new technologies."
Cable maintained the centre's work will strengthen the UK's
manufacturing centre, exploit the next generation of advanced
composites materials and help maintain the country's global lead in
this technology area. "I look forward to seeing what they produce,"
he concluded.
The NCC is located on the Bristol and Bath Science Park and is
owned and operated by the University of Bristol.