The National Composites Centre (NCC), part of the UK government's UK Composites Strategy, is designed to bring together companies and academics to develop new technologies for the design and manufacture of high-quality composite products.
Umeco specialises in distribution and supply chain management to the aerospace and defence industries. The Umeco Composites business provides a range of products and services to the aerospace and other markets.
Umeco has taken out 'Tier 1' membership of the NCC after working closely with the centre over the past 6 months. It joins the University of Bristol (as chair), Vestas, Airbus, GKN Aerospace, Rolls Royce and Agusta Westland on the NCC Board.
Tier 1 membership is for an initial 3-year period at a cost of £0.3 million per year and comes with a range of benefits, including: membership of the NCC board; participation in the NCC’s core research and technology programmes; company-specific programmes; and full access to the NCC’s facilities and expertise.
Tier 1 membership commits Umeco and NCC to collaborative research projects for at least 3 years.
“We are pleased to be part of the NCC Board and look forward to developing a close working relationship with world-leading manufacturers and UK academics to develop new technologies and promote the application of composites," says Andrew Moss, CEO of Umeco plc.
"Umeco has significant experience in a wide range of market sectors and is actively engaged in on-going materials and application technologies development. We see this as an excellent opportunity to firmly establish the UK’s excellence in the composites industry.”
National Composites Centre
The UK government launched the UK Composites Strategy in November 2009. The NCC is a key part of this strategy. The combination of academic and business strengths is expected to speed progress from laboratory to design to factory and into products.
The 8500 m2 NCC building opens in summer 2011 at SPark, the Bristol and Bath Science Park.
