Whatever happens with Brexit, what we design, make and sell in and from Scotland is going to be core to how well we prosper as an economy.
And innovation in products and processes will be a key part of that. The businesses and products that are excelling in that will be celebrated and featured in Business Insider’s Made In Scotland Awards, which return for a fourth time in April 2019.
The awards will mark and celebrate businesses making an important contribution in different sectors of manufacturing, including life sciences, food and drink and engineering.
The awards process and the awards dinner that is the culmination will give due prominence to the best new products, the best exporters and the best inventors and innovators. A key award will be that of Manufacturer of the Year, a prize that will go to a business that demonstrates innovation, a commitment to excellence, sales growth and increased profitability.
For the second year the Made in Scotland Awards will have category that celebrates remanufacturing. The headline sponsors for the Made in Scotland Awards 2018 will again be the Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) of the University of Strathclyde.
The AFRC is a globally recognised centre of excellence in innovative manufacturing technologies, research and development and metal forming and forging research. The centre, located at Inchinnan in Renfrewshire, works with all types of organisations from original equipment manufacturers through to local manufacturing businesses. The AFRC is Scotland’s only High Value Manufacturing Catapult Centre, one of only seven such centres around the UK, which aims to boost innovation in manufacturing.
Over the past few months it has been awarded £112m with the announcement of £96m from the Treasury in addition to £16.5m to fund a new hot forging research platform. The planned platform FutureForge will be the world’s most advanced facility of its kind, will be built next to the existing FRC in Inchinnan in Renfrewshire and is due to begin operating in 2020.
The news followed the announcement last year that a new Lightweight Manufacturing Centre is to be established in Renfrew as the first step to creating a National Manufacturing Institute for Scotland.
The £8.9m facility, which will be housed in the former Doosan Babcock facility in Westway, will be part of the AFRC.
Professor Keith Ridgway, executive chairman of the AFRC, said: "It is crucial that Scotland has a thriving manufacturing sector and it is also important that we celebrate the companies that fly the Made in Scotland flag.
"We recognise the hard work that goes into making these businesses successful and we're delighted to be celebrating with them again."
For more information see www.insidermadeinscotland.co.uk . To book tickets or discuss sponsorship opportunities please contact Aileen Turnbull 07825 899187 or by email on aileen.turnbull@insider.co.uk.
