MACH 2024 Headline Sponsor Announced

MACH 2024, the UK’s national event for inspiring, innovating and connecting manufacturing, has reached the landmark of just one year to go before the doors of the NEC, Birmingham open to start the show.

In recognition of the landmark, and reaffirming its commitment to UK manufacturing, Lloyds Bank has confirmed its headline sponsorship of MACH for the sixth time.

MACH is the destination of choice for companies looking to adopt and invest in the digital revolution.

James Selka, CEO at the MTA, said: “We are delighted to again be working with Lloyds Bank –this time on the promotion of MACH 2024. Being owned by the industry, for the benefit of the industry, the MTA’s primary aim is to help and support the sector we represent to do business, boosting the UK’s manufacturing performance and enabling UK PLC to compete at a global level.

Manufacturing is the heartbeat of the UK economy and growing a resilient manufacturing industry has never been more important. Lloyds Bank is an ideal partner for MACH as we share common goals and commitments.”

A key theme of MACH 2024, which takes place between 15-19 April, will be around sustainability, supporting UK manufacturers transition to a low-carbon, sustainable business model.

Dave Atkinson, UK head of manufacturing at Lloyds Bank commented: “Making the transition to Net Zero represents a significant growth opportunity for the UK economy, particularly for the manufacturing sector. However, we must invest in technology and skills to support such an ambitious change. Lloyds Bank are delighted to again sponsor MACH – the UK’s national showcase for the best in next-generation manufacturing technologies.”

As a full working week event, MACH exhibitors power their equipment and technology on display, demonstrating latest techniques and trends to improve productivity, reducing material resource and energy used in the process – helping to ensure a sustainable future, contributing to the drive towards Net Zero. Attracting new talent into the engineering-based manufacturing sector is another key driver for growth and a shared focus for both the MTA and Lloyds Bank. Mr Selka continued: “The MTA invests in a dedicated Education and Development Zone at MACH, successfully attracting over 3,000 students in the key age range of 11-18. The zone is designed to inspire a future generation into engineering as an exciting career, helping to close the skills gap by investing in people.” bars in-house, an important ability for the positioning and growth in medical as well as aerospace applications.

With 12 months to go before the doors open at MACH 2024, the show is already well on the way to being a sell-out. Attracting an audience of more than 26,000 people to meet and network with around 500 exhibitors, business attributed to the event in 2022 amounted to more than £180m.

Lloyds Bank’s sponsorship deal also extends to the Engineering Supply Chain Show. This three-day event, co-located alongside MACH in 2024, is where engineering and manufacturing buyers go to find world-class suppliers, exclusively in the UK engineering and manufacturing supply chain.

Alleima has signed an agreement to acquire the Swedish company Söderfors Steel Operations AB (“Söderfors Steel”). The acquisition will add capabilities in hot rolling of small diameter bars and profiles to expand the offering of advanced materials for the Medical and Aerospace segments. The company will be reported within the Tube division.

“Important drivers of our profitable growth strategy include winning business and market shares within the fastgrowing Medical and Aerospace segments. The acquisition of Söderfors Steel allows us to further widen our offering in these segments by adding complementing capabilities, enabling expansion to many new product applications within attractive niches. I welcome Söderfors Steel to our Group”, says Göran Björkman, President and CEO of Alleima.

The acquisition will provide Alleima with capabilities to manufacture bars with a diameter less than 80 millimeters in high performance materials as nickel base alloys and remelted stainless steel. Currently, Söderfors Steel is a subcontractor to Alleima and other customers. By adding these capabilities, Alleima will be able to manufacture small diameter

The production facility and head office of Söderfors Steel is located in Söderfors, Sweden, with approximately 50 employees. In 2022 Söderfors Steel had revenues of approximately SEK 145 million and an EBIT margin neutral to the Tube division. Impact on earnings per share will be accretive from the start. The parties have agreed not to disclose the purchase price. The transaction is expected to close during the first half of 2023.