Lightweighting

Lightweight materials - a £138 billion opportunity

The UK has a high demand for lightweight materials, which is predicted to be worth £138 billion globally by 2021. UK Government has identified Manchester as the perfect location to access this opportunity.

Where Charles Rolls met Henry Royce and where the wonder material graphene was first isolated, Manchester is a city of innovation. The city is also located at the heart of two transport clusters, offering easy access to end users, is home to world leading research and innovation assets, and offers businesses access to government funding and a talented workforce.

For businesses looking to access the lightweight materials opportunity, MIDAS - Manchester’s inward investment agency, can offer free confidential advice, help you engage with the globally renowned research centres, and enable you to establish a foothold in one of Europe’s top business destinations.

The opportunity

Manchester is located at the heart of the largest aerospace cluster in Europe and the second largest automotive cluster in the UK, offering easy access to end manufacturers including Rolls Royce, Bentley, Airbus, BAE systems, Vauxhall and Thales. Automotive, aerospace and rail manufactures are driving the demand for lightweight, but strong, materials in a bid to reduce carbon emissions. These high strength low weight materials also have applications in sectors such as construction and energy.

Manchester is also home to the School of Materials, the largest school of its kind in Europe. Based at the University of Manchester, businesses can engage in research partnerships as well as access talent. 14,000 students are studying advanced materials disciplines at the city’s four universities, offering a sustained talent pipeline in addition to the existing high productivity manufacturing workforce of more than 115,000 people.

Research and Innovation

Due to its high demand, the UK is investing heavily in manufacturing innovations. £200 million is available to businesses looking to commercialise ideas through the UK’s seven high-value manufacturing catapult centres. All seven of these centres are within a four-hour drive of Manchester and complement the city’s globally significant research and innovation assets which include:

• The UK’s centre for advanced manufacturing – The Henry Royce Institute: This centre offers £330m of advanced manufacturing capability to help businesses innovate and accelerate the invention and adoption of new materials.

• The National Graphene Institute and Graphene Engineering Innovation Centre (GEIC): Typically adding less than 1% of graphene to a material results in a 30% increase in strength resulting in 30% less of the original material needing to be used i.e. a 30% weight reduction. Over 200 researchers are working in the city to the develop and commercialise applications of the wonder material and related 2D materials meaning Manchester has the highest concentration of graphene expertise globally.

Contact us to find out how MIDAS can help your business move to Manchester. You can also keep up-to-date with us via Twitter and LinkedIn.