In Brief: Airedale Springs; Biorenewables Development Centre; Status International

A GRANT from the Leeds City Region Enterprise Partnership (LEP) has enabled family engineering business Airedale Springs to recruit new apprentices for the first time since a fire devastated the company’s former headquarters.

The Haworth-based business has been awarded a grant from the LEP’s Business Growth Programme, which is supported by the government’s Regional Growth Fund. The £20,000 grant has helped the business to purchase state-of-the-art machinery and employ two new apprentices from the local area.

Airedale Springs, a leading spring and wire form manufacturer with 32 staff, has invested more than £105,000 alongside the grant to expand its product range.

The company, which supplies a range of products used in all areas of manufacturing and engineering including valves, bicycles and light fittings in both the UK and overseas, has bounced back following a blaze that destroyed its former base in a Victorian mill in Haworth in 2010.

Since moving into a new purpose built factory nearby in May 2012 Airedale Springs has invested £2m in the latest spring and wire forming machines to enable the company to win new contracts.

:::
 
BRAZIL’S National Laboratory of Science and Technology of Bioethanol (CTBE) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Biorenewables Development Centre (BDC) in York.

Brazil is the world’s largest producer of ethanol extracted from sugar cane and has pioneered its use as a motor fuel. This agreement recognises the international importance of biofuel expertise at the BDC and in the plant biology and green chemistry research groups at the University of York.
 
Dr Joe Ross, director of the Biorenewables Development Centre, said: “To be recognised in this way, by a world leader in bioethanol production, is a tremendous endorsement for our biofuel capabilities and proof of our international impact in this field.” 
 
:::

STATUS International UK, one of the UK’s leading independent light bulb and accessories suppliers, has developed a new design studio at its offices in Cleckheaton, West Yorkshire.

The innovative in-house facility has seen Status invest in new computing, printing and photographic equipment which have given the company the capability to produce new packaging designs within a single day. 

Peter McVeigh, managing director, said: “We are really pleased with the new design studio. Our team of designers are constantly kept busy in all aspects of artwork management including the development of new designs, amending existing packaging and creating new brands and designs.  The new studio will greatly increase our efficiency in this area and lead to higher output.”