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Showing posts from June, 2019

High ozone levels lead to first driving bans in France

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Paris prohibits vehicle use for 57% of registered vehicles - foreign vehicles are also affectedBerlin, 28.06.2019. For the first time as of Wednesday this week, driving bans for vehicles in Crit'Air Category 3 and higher have been in place in the French cities of Paris and Lyon. This means, for example, that only diesel cars and campervans (up to 3.5 t) that comply with Euro 5 or 6 and cars with petrol engines complying with Euro 4, 5 and 6 are allowed to enter the Paris ring autobahn A86. In... Read the full story

Steve Fox Joins MFG as Managing Director, Retail

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Motor Fuel Group (MFG), the UK’s largest independent forecourt operator, is pleased to announce the appointment of Steve Fox as its new managing director, retail.Steve has over 30 years’ experience in food and convenience retailing. Starting his career in operations with Safeway, he then moved to Booker where he managed a six-fold increase in their Premier symbol group members before becoming managing director, Booker Group – Retail with responsibility for all of the Group’s retail ac... Read the full story

Engineering Academy awards British student a life-changing career opportunity with INFINITI & Ren...

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INFINITI names engineering student from Cambridgeshire, UK, Oliver Milner as the 2019 European winner of its acclaimed INFINITI Engineering Academy   Following an intense final at Renault F1® Team Technical Centre in Enstone, Milner has become the second of the seven Academy Engineers (one per participating region) to be awarded a unique one-year placement to work in automotive and Formula 1™  Chosen by a panel of judges from INFINITI, Renault F1® Team, the Alliance and Harvard Univers... Read the full story

Vehicle speed compliance statistics for Great Britain: 2018 – DriveTech comments

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With this week’s release of government vehicle speed compliance statistics, DriveTech echo president of the AA, Edmund King’s, sentiment and believe it is important that police forces have the necessary roads policing resource.  One of the headline findings of the research is that in 2018, under free-flowing traffic conditions, 46% of cars exceeded the speed limit on motorways compared to 52% on 30mph roads and 10% on 60mph roads. Des Morrison, Director of police and public sector contr... Read the full story

MANN-FILTER wins the readers' vote for the eighth time

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During the annual survey of readers of the "lastauto omnibus", "trans aktuell" and "FERNFAHRER" journals, MANN-FILTER came first in the Filter category for 2019, making this the brand's eighth consecutive award for first place. Ludwigsburg, June 26, 2019 – EuroTransportMedia (ETM), the leading specialist publisher for commercial vehicles, and Dekra, the independent expert organization conduct a survey of the readers every year for the best brands in 27 different categories, such as tires,... Read the full story

Ford Honors MANN+HUMMEL at 21st Annual World Excellence Awards

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MANN+HUMMEL honored by Ford Motor Company with an Aligned Business Framework World Excellence Award and a Gold World Excellence Award  Ford’s World Excellence Awards honor companies that exceed expectations and achieve the highest levels of excellence in quality, cost, performance and delivery  Awards span 10 categories, including quality, sustainability, safe, smart, aligned business framework, special recognition, diverse supplier of the year, supplier diversity development corporation... Read the full story

Volvo Cars releases armoured cars for people needing heightened protection

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With the release of the Volvo XC90 Armoured, Volvo Cars takes another step as a manufacturer of armoured vehicles. The cars are designed and built to provide safe and comfortable travel with a high level of personal protection for the occupants. "We are proud to be able to offer these armoured cars. With our armoured cars, we can provide vehicles with a high level of personal security for individuals who require heightened protection," says Stephan Green, Marketing Director at Volvo Cars Spe... Read the full story

World leading tool producer honors Lesjöfors company as “Supplier of the Year 2018”

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At a ceremony on June 4, world leading power tool producer Stihl awarded Velleuer with their prestigious “Supplier of the year”.  Velleuer received the award for outstanding accomplishments with respect to quality, technology, innovation, service and price-performance ratio.The Stihl Group develops, manufactures and distributes power tools for professional forestry and agriculture as well as for garden and landscape maintenance, the construction sector and private garden owners. The com... Read the full story

‘State-of-the-art’ Humber Surveyor Joins the Survey Fleet Working on the Humber Estuary

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ABP Humber Estuary Services (HES) has purchased a new £600,000 survey vessel. The Humber Surveyor has joined the survey fleet that includes the Humber Sounder and the Humber Charter.  The Humber Surveyor is fully equipped with first-rate survey technology including a £200,000 multibeam sonar, two single beam sonars, side scan and forward scan sonar. The kit is capable of three dimensionally mapping the ever-shifting sediment within the Humber Estuary. The vessel is also able to digitally m... Read the full story

Free business advice available to farmers in the Midlands through The Prince’s Farm Resilience...

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Family farm businesses in the Midlands are being invited to take part in the fourth year of the highly successful The Prince’s Farm Resilience Programme, run by The Prince’s Countryside Fund.Proven to help family farms improve their way of working, the Programme will provide free business support, skills and planning tuition, and one-to-one guidance to up to 20 small livestock and mixed family farm businesses.The Programme will be running in Norfolk and Shropshire and will also be availa... Read the full story

HOLT LLOYD INTERNATIONAL WINS CATEGORY LEADERSHIP AWARD AT THE 2019 TESCO IGD BUSINESS EVENT

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Leading car repair and maintenance company, Holt Lloyd International, has won the Category Leadership award for General Merchandise at the 2019 Tesco IGD business event. The event was held at the ExCel Convention Centre in London and was hosted in line with the high street retailer celebrating 100 years of its great value products. Following a number of recommendations from the category team, the senior Tesco leadership team awarded Holt Lloyd International with the Category Leadership awar... Read the full story

For not even a fistful of dollars The breakaway cable from Rameder ensures safety during trailer...

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Safety is precious, but not necessarily expensive. A one-euro coin, for example, can be great for measuring the remaining tire profile. And when towing a heavy trailer, it only takes two of those one-euro coins to satisfy common sense and the law. This is how little a breakaway cable from Rameder costs, which prevents a braked trailer from suddenly taking on a dangerous life of its own. This is for those rare cases where a trailer comes away from the towbar while driving. The German towbar sp... Read the full story

Springs for automotive - a field of science built on three corner stones

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Material. Manufacturing. Process. Design. How these three factors interact is crucial for the characteristics of a spring. There is no relevant academic research in this field in Sweden so at Lesjöfors, we develop the knowledge needed to design springs for the harshest environments. Lesjöfors Industrifjädrar in Hudene, Västergötland, manufacture springs for a wide range of segments. One specialty is customized valve springs for tuned engines. Another customer in the racing and automotive... Read the full story

Summer months have worst record for tyre incidents

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TyreSafe has launched a campaign with a cautionary reminder to motorists that it’s in the summer months when there are more tyre-related incidents reported.     Department for Transport data shows, on average. July has the most tyre-related incidents, closely followed by August and then June. The UK’s tyre safety charity is using its popular Adventures in Tyre Safety video, book and images to alert Britain’s motorists to check their tyres regularly, at least once a month, and always... Read the full story

BACK-OF-THE-GRID START RESULTS IN DIFFICULT SWISS E-PRIX FOR NIO

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NIO drivers Tom Dillmann and Oliver Turvey encountered a very challenging final European race of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship season in Bern on Saturday 22nd June, after starting at the back for the Julius Baer Swiss E-Prix. Facing a tall order from the final row of the grid, Dillmann and Turvey, starting 21st and 22nd respectively, initially profited from a chaotic race start when a multi-car incident into the first chicane blocked the track.Able to take to the chicane escape road in... Read the full story

COMAU STRENGTHENS ITS POSITION IN THE E-MOBILITY FIELD THROUGH GROUNDBREAKING PROJECT WITH LECLAN...

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Comau and leclanché to develop one of the world’s first automated industrial scale manufacturing lines of energy storage solutions FOR THE transport sector   Turin (Italy) and Yverdon-les Bains (Switzerland), June 20, 2019 – Comau, a global leader in advanced industrial automation products and solutions, has been commissioned to build one of the world’s first automated manufacturing lines for lithium-ion battery modules for transport applications by Leclanché, one of the world’s l... Read the full story

Shanghai: SEGULA Technologies at the forefront of automotive design

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With the opening of a design studio in Shanghai, the global engineering group SEGULA Technologies capitalises on Technicon Design's expertise in automotive design to position itself at the forefront of this sector in Asia-Pacific.    Paris, June 20th, 2019 - SEGULA Technologies is supporting its worldwide customers by opening a new design studio in the city which is becoming the Chinese capital of the automotive design: Shanghai.    Under the Technicon design brand, this studio will sh... Read the full story

INFINITI & Renault F1® Team Encourage Women To Pursue Engineering Careers

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Premium car manufacturer INFINITI and Renault F1® Team continue to encourage gender diversity in STEM subjects on the occasion of International Women in Engineering Day 2019   Both companies work together to inspire young female engineers to pursue careers in the automotive and motorsport industries through prominent role models, which research has identified as a key motivational factor  ... Read the full story

Rachel Clift, Health & Wellbeing Director at Ben, commented on the 2018 budget announcement resul...

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“It’s promising to see the latest budget is very focused on mental health and we're particularly thrilled to see an extra £2bn being allocated for mental health services in England.  “It isn’t clear at this stage how this money will be spent but I’m hopeful that this additional funding will be used for prevention as well as improving further access to talking therapies, with reduced waiting times for assessment and treatment.  “The budget announcement also included a 10-year pl... Read the full story

PENULTIMATE EVENT OF FORMULA E SEASON NEXT FOR NIO IN SWITZERLAND

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Switzerland’s capital city, Bern, welcomes the ABB FIA Formula E Championship for the first time this coming Saturday, 22nd June, where NIO drivers Oliver Turvey and Tom Dillmann will be hoping for a positive conclusion to the ‘European season’.Although not readily associated with modern motorsport, due to the fact road racing circuits are banned in Switzerland, the country welcomed Formula E for the first time last year in Zurich thanks to special dispensation for EV racing.For Season... Read the full story

LIQUI MOLY becomes name sponsor of Handball Bundesliga in Germany

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German oil and additive specialist relies on promotional benefit in one of the strongest leagues in the worldJune 2019 – From July 2019, top handball in Germany will be played under the auspices of LIQUI MOLY. The lubricant specialist has acquired the naming rights to the men’s highest division, which will then be called the LIQUI MOLY Handball Bundesliga. The contract is valid for three seasons with an option for two more. The Bundesliga and the motor oil and additives company have put t... Read the full story

Mycarcheck: BMW 520d a frugal luxury saloon and sales upturn for motorbikes

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Mycarcheck.com’s valuation experts reveal significant trends in the UK used vehicle market and choose a car and bike of the month. Head of valuation services at mycarcheck.com, Jon Wheeler, said: “Many used car buyers won’t even consider a BMW 5 Series, assuming they are simply too expensive to buy and maintain, but the numbers aren’t as scary as you might think. The 520d in particular is surprisingly frugal and maintenance costs aren’t jaw-dropping for a German luxury saloon. Ther... Read the full story

Alex Marquez took his third victory in a row and another new lap record falls to Triumph 765cc triple

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Magnificent Alex Marquez takes hat trick with Catalan GP victory as another new lap record falls to Triumph 765cc triple  For the first time in his Grand Prix career, Alex Marquez took his third victory in a row with a dominant display on home soil at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, and he now moves into the lead of the Moto2™ championship. Further demonstrating just how well the Spanish rider has connected with the greater power and torque of the Triumph 765cc triple engine in his E... Read the full story

Paragon’s Structured Lending business passes £100 million milestone with Go Car Credit deal

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The Structured Lending team at specialist lender Paragon has passed its £100 million milestone, 18 months after being launched.It comes as Paragon’s latest deal supports specialist car lender Go Car Credit with £12.5 million.Go Car Credit, which launched in 2017, will use the money to support its strategy to increase new motor finance loans in the UK to the underserved and non-prime customer base and raise its presence online.Every year, there are around 8.2 million used-vehicle transacti... Read the full story

BYTON announces new Vice President of Program Management

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Nanjing, China, June 18, 2019 - BYTON announced that it has further reinforced the company’s executive team with the appointment of Andrew Ball to the position of Vice President of Program Management. In this position, he will be responsible for driving the development of BYTON’s product line in order to deliver high-quality vehicles on time. Within this role, Ball will strengthen the program management processes on a global scale, allowing BYTON to achieve its goals of offering different... Read the full story

SEMCON IN NEW PROJECT FOR SAFER AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES

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Semcon is part of a new functional safety partnership with a global vehicle manufacturer. This project aims to use quality-assured system solutions to ensure that the autonomous vehicles of the future are reliable.Besides functional safety software solutions, this contract also includes strategic consulting to ensure that safety becomes a natural element in all software development, working methods and management decisions relating to the autonomous vehicles of the future. This is a two-year... Read the full story

Improvements and progress in all corners of Lesjöfors China

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For many years, Lesjöfors China has worked hard to be a top class automotive supplier. In addition to full awareness and compliance to our automotive customers’ needs, improved quality methods for customers in other segments are also achieved.Lesjöfors China has made improvements in multiple areas and most noticeable is of course the factory layout that meets a good international standard. Customers and other visitors have given a lot of positive feedback, which is a satisfying proof of q... Read the full story

LIQUI MOLY job machine at full throttle

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German lubricant specialist recruits 67 employees during the first half of the yearJune 2019 – LIQUI MOLY's products ensure that engines and other machines purr flawlessly. Its job machine is reliably running at full throttle too. During the first half of the year, the German oil and additive specialist added 67 new employees to its staff, 19 of them in May and June alone. The new recruits have joined head office, the oil factory, the Portuguese subsidiary and the Dutch sales team.Eleven of... Read the full story

BYTON opens Shanghai Design Studio, further strengthens its global presence

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-       The Shanghai Design Studio targets local demands of the Chinese market with advanced design, market research and supplier communications-       A number of digital product designers (UI/UX) will join the Shanghai Design Studio to empower the team with stronger digital design capabilities-       Details of the production car interior revealed at the opening ceremony-       The first production car will be manufactured with 90 percent of the concept’s design re... Read the full story

Maid My Home Expands On-Demand House Cleaning Services Into the Cities of Bristol, Sheffield, Colchester, and Nottingham

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Kensington, London - Maid My Home is one of the premier house cleaning service providers in the United Kingdom. Due to popular demand, the company is proud to announce their expansion into several new cities, as their team of cleaning experts is now serving the areas of Bristol, Sheffield, Colchester and Nottingham, in addition to their core locations.Announcing their move into these new areas, the spokesperson for the residential cleaning professionals noted that the expansion comes as part... Read the full story

Caterquip Reveal (Probably) the 10 Best Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants in the World

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The Catering Equipment Company Have Researched and Profiled the Leading Vegetarian and Vegan Restaurants AroundCaterquip, the largest supplier of used, second-hand and refurbished catering equipment in the United Kingdom, have recently invested a lot of resources into identifying and profiling what they believe are the 10 best vegetarian and vegan restaurants in the world.The fruits of their labour are displayed in the form of a detailed article on their company website, which runs to over 20... Read the full story

A.F. Blakemore Flagship Store Programme Wins Grocer Gold

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A.F. Blakemore’s Flagship Store Programme has been crowned Business Initiative of the Year at the Grocer Gold Awards.Fighting off stiff competition from finalists including Aldi UK and the Co-op, the Flagship Store Programme was announced as the winning business initiative at The Grocer’s awards ceremony at London’s Guildhall on June 11th.Judges described the “phenomenal” initiative as “creative and multifaceted”, with the “perfect combination of measurement and incentives”... Read the full story

Creative Retail Awards crown the best in retail design and display.

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The Creative Retail Awards organised by Shop and Display Equipment Association and Retail Focus held at London’s newest super-club, Proud Embankment, on 6th June, were once again an outstanding success.  The Awards were attended by some of the most influential and creative minds from all around the world to celebrate the entire spectrum of retail design and display.  The Creative Retail Awards have quickly become one of the most distinguished accolades within the retail industry. They re... Read the full story

BYTON unveils a new look at its M-Byte Production interior design

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Shanghai, June 13, 2019 - Today, BYTON unveiled more details of the interior design for its first production model, the BYTON M-Byte.This new glimpse into the M-Byte’s interior design reveals not only key hardware such as the wraparound dashboard, 7-inch Driver Tablet, physical buttons on the steering wheel, and the 8-inch BYTON Central Touchpad, but also the main user interface (UI) design style. These all further reinforce the futuristic and premium aesthetic of the BYTON M-Byte’s high-... Read the full story

LIQUI MOLY at the European Athletics Championships 2020

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The German oil manufacturer is the event's official partner June 2019 – The European Athletics Championships will take place in Paris in 2020 with LIQUI MOLY on board. The German oil and additive specialist is the official partner of the competition. "This is another step in our strategy to increase our global brand awareness," says CEO Ernst Prost. The blue and red LIQUI MOLY logo will be visible both inside the stadium and outside on the marathon and race walking routes. "This means it w... Read the full story

Blakemore Logistics Invests in Hybrid Refrigeration

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Blakemore Logistics has introduced hybrid refrigeration units to 13 of its trailers to significantly reduce its vehicle emissions.The business has collaborated with Thermo King to become one of the first companies in the UK to fit the new hybrid refrigeration technology to 13 of its Gray & Adams trailer units.The Thermo King SLXi is the first hybrid unit on the market, offering the benefits of both diesel and electric power.To ensure the units are as efficient as possible, the business worked... Read the full story

Huge prizes for shoppers with SPAR Love Summer campaign

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SPAR UK is helping its retailers and their shoppers fall in love with summer this year, thanks to two new footfall and basket-spend boosting campaigns. The two Love Summer marketing campaigns will both kick off on 13th June and run for six weeks until 24th July, offering a huge opportunity to SPAR retailers. The first campaign, Love Summer Prizes, is a footfall-driving initiative that encourages shoppers to go to their local SPAR to be in with the chance of winning from thousands of summer... Read the full story

BYTON appoints Dr. Andreas Schaaf to its newly established Chief Customer Officer position for user-centric experiences

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Nanjing, China, June 12, 2019 – BYTON, Chinese-based premium electric vehicle maker, announced the appointment of Dr. Andreas Schaaf to the position of Chief Customer Officer with immediate effect. True to its “user-centric” philosophy, BYTON established the new position to drive outstanding customer experiences across all sales and marketing channels, products and services. Dr. Andreas Schaaf will be responsible for BYTON’s global go-to-market activities including sales, marketing, d... Read the full story

Eclipse Autos Publish Guide On Safest Family Cars in the World

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All 29 of the Current 5-Star Safety Rated Cars are Listed and ProfiledEclipse Autos, the highly-rated MOT testing centre and garage in Milton Keynes, have recently published a thorough and detailed guide to the safest family cars currently available on the market.The guide, published as an article on their company blog, lists all 29 of the 5-star Euro NCAP safety rated family cars from the 2018 and 2019 testing cycles so far.Eclipse Autos were inspired to produce this authoritative guide due... Read the full story

SPAR stores roll out popular branded Sports Day kits to local schools

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SPAR UK is a proud sponsor of the British Athletics (UKA) who connect local communities through sports. SPAR activates this sponsorship at British Athletics events and online though the SPAR Sports Club. This is further supported at local community and school level by SPAR providing free Sports Day kits which are being rolled out to schoolchildren once again this summer. Based on fantastic feedback from retailers, SPAR UK has produced 2,100 Sports Day kits this year, and is making them avai... Read the full story

Blakemore Retail Achieves Investors in People Gold Accreditation

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Blakemore Retail’s commitment to developing colleagues has been recognised with the highly prestigious Investors in People Gold accolade.Investors in People is a nationally recognised quality standard that looks for continuous improvement in how businesses communicate and develop colleagues for the future today and tomorrow.Blakemore Retail has held Investors in People accreditation since 2002, with the Gold status coming just three years after the business achieved Silver in 2016.This is t... Read the full story

Colleagues Go Western to Help Keep Children Safe Online

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Colleagues based at Blakemore Retail SPAR stores across England and Wales threw on their Stetsons and denim jeans to raise awareness and help fundraise for the NSPCC.  Over the Whitsun Bank Holiday weekend, colleagues at all 280 Blakemore Retail SPAR stores took part in the NSPCC’s Wild West Weekend, to support the Wild West Web campaign and help raise awareness of the importance of keeping children safe online. Colleagues got into the spirit of the event, pulling on their denim and sport... Read the full story

‘The Investor: London’

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New Podcast series is on the Hunt for London’s top start-up businesses looking to scale-up in Industry first  New 12-part series set to lift the lid on the passion and drama of building a business £250,000 Investment up for grabs from one of the UK’s most charismatic serial entrepreneurs, Professor Stefan Allesch-Taylor CBE Casting call now open - apply here: https://sesdit.wufoo.com/forms/application-to-participate-in-the-investor/ >> Download high res image of Stefan & graphics Read the full story

MANN+HUMMEL Recognized by General Motors as a 2018 Supplier of the Year

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Detroit/Ludwigsburg, Germany, June 07 2019 – MANN+HUMMEL was named a Supplier of the Year by General Motors during their 27th annual ‘Supplier of the Year’ awards ceremony held in Detroit in May. It is the 24th time MANN+HUMMEL has received the award.“We hold our suppliers to a high bar,” said Steve Kiefer, GM senior vice president, Global Purchasing and Supply Chain. “They went above and beyond to deliver the innovations and quality that will help us earn customers for life.” ... Read the full story

LIQUI MOLY remains loyal to MercedesCup

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Lubricant specialist continues sponsorship of ATP tennis tournament in GermanyJune 2019 – The Pentecost weekend will see the start of this year’s MercedesCup. It marks LIQUI MOLY’s eighth year as premium sponsor of the renowned tennis event, which will take place in Stuttgart, Germany, from 8 to 16 June. There is method behind this far-sighted approach.“Dependability and commitment are important constants in our relationships with customers, suppliers and advertising partners,” says... Read the full story

Ben's comment | Ford job losses

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Rachel Clift, Health & Wellbeing Director at Ben – the automotive industry charity The changing landscape of the automotive industry means a less certain future for its workers and their families, creating an increasingly pressured environment for them. Today’s news about Ford is only testament to this. In a challenging world, the lifeblood of the industry - its people – should be put first. As the automotive sector’s charity and support service, we’ve seen a big increase in people... Read the full story

CAPAS 2019 closed, driving the market development of Southwest China through new events and enhanced services

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The sixth edition of the Chengdu International Trade Fair for Automotive Parts and Aftermarket Services (CAPAS) concluded to a high note on 25 May 2019 at the Chengdu Century City New International Exhibition & Convention Center in China. Sitting at the centre of the Southwest China automotive industry, the three-day show achieved a number of new records.  Key figures from CAPAS 2019: 48,000 sqm of exhibition space (7% increase) 612 exhibitors (5% growth) 18,916 professional buyers (5% incr... Read the full story

Assembly response to 20mph speed limits in central London

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Transport for London (TfL) has today announced it wants certain areas in central London to have 20mph limits for drivers from next May.Areas such as Victoria and Albert Embankments, Millbank, Tower Hill and Blackfriars Road will be affected. In response, Chair of the London Assembly Transport Committee, Florence Eshalomi, said: “In our ‘Hostile Streets’ report, the Transport Committee asked TfL to review all the speed limits on its roads. “The Committee believes the Mayor could be... Read the full story

Relishing the good times with SPARbecue 2019

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Following the resounding success of SPAR’s first SPARbecue last summer, SPAR enjoyed a hugely successful second year of its SPARbecue campaign over the May bank holiday weekend. Launched in 2018 to promote the award winning SPAR own label range of products, this year SPAR sent over 600 people everything they would need to host their very own SPARbecue for family and friends filled with a huge variety of SPAR brand products. SPARbecue hosts were chosen based on how close they lived to thei... Read the full story

One month to go until three automotive leaders tackle the Epic Thames Waterbike Ride

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There’s just one month to go until three UK automotive industry leaders will cycle on water and ride the River Thames from its source to London, in the Epic Thames Waterbike Ride. This is the latest of Ben’s Industry Leader Challenges which is now in its fourth year.  Jon Wakefield, until recently Managing Director of Volvo Car UK, now heading up the firm’s Swedish national sales company; Tim Tozer, CEO of Allianz Partners UK & Ireland and Darren Guiver, Managing Director of Group 1 Au... Read the full story