11 March 2010
Northwest Manufacturing Forum announced
The EEF’s successful Manufacturing Week has now come to an end
but promoting the positive image of Northwest Manufacturing
continues. The Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA) has,
today announced a new Manufacturing Forum for the Northwest. Its
members will act as ambassadors for this vital Northwest
sector.
The industry-led Northwest Manufacturing Forum will steer the
Northwest Manufacturing Strategy, launched at the end of last year,
and influence the public sector actions within it. The members of
the Forum will act as ambassadors and become the face and voice of
Northwest Manufacturing on the local, regional, national and
international stage.
The Forum will identify ‘demand’ requirements and influence
‘supply’ provision, particularly from the public sector. This will
allow the Forum to advise the public sector on the implementation
of the Manufacturing Strategy; future developments of the strategy;
and interventions in manufacturing going forward.
Steven Broomhead, Chief Executive of the NWDA, said: “The
Northwest’s manufacturing sector is the biggest of any English
region and remains a major driver for improving GVA, contributing
almost £20 billion to the regional economy.”
“The Northwest Manufacturing Forum will be the voice for
Northwest Manufacturing, helping to promote the diverse strength of
our outstanding manufacturing sector.”
“The NWDA will work with the Forum and partners across the
Northwest to create a modern manufacturing sector in the region
that will be innovative, enterprising, highly skilled, and well
led.”
The new Forum will be chaired by Duncan Craig, Vice President,
Manufacturing Processes for Westinghouse. Duncan has over 30 years
of manufacturing experience (See Biography in Notes to
Editors).
The appointment of the first Chair of the Forum was announced by
Vanda Murray, Deputy Chair of the NWDA, at the beacon Manufacturing
Week event. held in Halewood, as part of the national Manufacturing
Week activities, on Tuesday 2nd March.
Duncan commented: “I am honoured and excited about the
prospect of chairing this new forum. Having spent 32 years in
manufacturing I am passionate about the sector, it is in my blood,
and I am delighted to have the opportunity to help develop the
sector in the Northwest.”
“Manufacturing is at the heart of the Northwest economy and will
be critical to securing a strong and sustainable economic future
for the region. The Forum will play a vital role in helping to move
this along and will champion this vital sector.”
Further Forum members will appointed shortly.
EEF’s Manufacturing Week took place between 01-05 March and was
part of a long running campaign to promote the success of the
sector and policies to promote a better balanced economy. It
was backed by the NWDA in the Northwest who are used the week as a
platform to promote the Northwest expertise, excellence and
strength in manufacturing.
ENDS
Duncan Craig - Biography
Duncan Craig was appointed to the role of Vice President,
Manufacturing Processes, in January 2006 and is responsible for
manufacturing improvement across the global Westinghouse Nuclear
business.
Duncan joined BNFL in 1978 and has spent his career to date in a
number of operations and plant engineering roles, which culminated
in 2001 with an appointment as General Manager for Springfields
site.
Duncan has a long history in business improvement and change
management. He led the successful transition to full
production of the Springfields Oxide Fuels Complex. He has
held positions in Total Quality Management and led the introduction
of additional skills/team working at Springfields in the early
1990’s.
In addition he has, over the years, been trained as a
Westinghouse ‘Fitness Review’ assessor; he has acted as an assessor
in both the UK Quality Award and North West Quality Award
programmes and has led three Peer Reviews within Westinghouse.