Press Release: Atlas welcomed to the National Composites Centre opening

The end of 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 guests to the official opening of the National Composites Centre (NCC).

For most it was an opportunity see first hand the £25 million pound, 8,500 meter square centre for innovation incorporating the very latest state-of-the-art machinery, including a world-leading £2.5m automatic fibre placement robotic system.

With the UK composites market, aided 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 champion.

“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.

Vince Cable welcomes Atlas Composites Managing Director Shaun Moloney to the National Composites Centre