The Daily Telegraph has published excerpts from a presentation Ratcliffe is said to have given to George Osborne that began with a slide stating: “The UK frankly has not been a very attractive place to manufacture”. Ratcliffe, who has already moved Ineos’s headquarters to Switzerland after the company was refused VAT deferrals during the Credit Crunch, has called for a reduction in corporation tax for manufacturing companies to 12%. He also called on the government to reduce environmental taxes on energy, which add €6 per megawatt hour (MWh) in the UK, versus €1 in Germany and zero in the US Gulf, making the UK one of the most expensive countries for big energy users. Ratcliffe is said to have told the chancellor that Britain lacked USPs for manufacturing investment, that it was disadvantaged on transport costs and that to this could be added “energy, pensions, government attitude, unions, infrastructure qualitys, skills and tax”. The shale gas boom in the US has given American companies a big advantage on energy costs, he claimed, while Germany benefits from “excellent skills” and “a very strong manufacturing base” and China has “a massive market” and “cheap labour costs”. Ratcliffe also criticised the “aspirational targets for university attendance” pushed by successive governments, which have led to a decline in the UK’s vocationally skilled workforce. The government should “get rid of the idea that everyone should get a degree regardless of whether it is worth anything”, he added. Ratcliffe told The Telegraph that he had simply been trying to impress upon the government the importance of manufacturing to the UK economy and the fact that “if you want to encourage manufacturing in the UK, you have to have some reason to invest”. Ineos’s Grangemouth plant was recently in the news after a dispute with Unite left the 800-staff business facing closure; the decision to close the plant, announced last week, was reversed when the union acquiesced to the company’s demands for a three-year pay freeze, an end to the final salary pension scheme and an agreement not to strike for three years....

The new device is set for commercial availability from UK distributor Hybrid Services in the first quarter of 2014. The JFX200-2513 is intended to be an entry-level option for printers in the sign and display sector. The manufacturer said the CMYK-plus-white machine can print at up to 25sqm/hr on sheets of 2.5×1.3m and up to 50mm thick and offered high-quality output at an affordable price. According to Mimaki, the new printer produces high-quality print by generating ink dots in three different sizes at once. It also employs a white ink for use on transparent materials, for backlit displays for example, or dark substrates. The machine has been designed with ease-of-use in mind, with the control panel, vacuum valves and ink supply on the front of the unit. General manager of marketing for Mimaki Europe, Mike Horsten said: “It is designed based on customer input as an entry-level printer with extreme ease of use but also incorporates many of the advanced features that Mimaki is known for in the sign and display graphics industry.” The new printer will be available with a range of ink options to support different substrate types. LH-100 is a hard UV-cured ink, which Mimaki said offered high rub and chemical resistance while maintaining image quality. LUS-150 is a low-cost UV-cured ink designed to be flexible so it can be used on curved surfaces without cracking. PR-100 is a primer ink that can be used as a pre-treatment agent to improve ink adhesion on difficult substrates. The machine will have its debut at Viscom next week....

The Daily Telegraph has published excerpts from a presentation Ratcliffe is said to have given to George Osborne that began with a slide stating: “The UK frankly has not been a very attractive place to manufacture”. Ratcliffe, who has already moved Ineos’s headquarters to Switzerland after the company was refused VAT deferrals during the Credit Crunch, has called for a reduction in corporation tax for manufacturing companies to 12%. He also called on the government to reduce environmental taxes on energy, which add €6 per megawatt hour (MWh) in the UK, versus €1 in Germany and zero in the US Gulf, making the UK one of the most expensive countries for big energy users. Ratcliffe is said to have told the chancellor that Britain lacked USPs for manufacturing investment, that it was disadvantaged on transport costs and that to this could be added “energy, pensions, government attitude, unions, infrastructure qualitys, skills and tax”. The shale gas boom in the US has given American companies a big advantage on energy costs, he claimed, while Germany benefits from “excellent skills” and “a very strong manufacturing base” and China has “a massive market” and “cheap labour costs”. Ratcliffe also criticised the “aspirational targets for university attendance” pushed by successive governments, which have led to a decline in the UK’s vocationally skilled workforce. The government should “get rid of the idea that everyone should get a degree regardless of whether it is worth anything”, he added. Ratcliffe told The Telegraph that he had simply been trying to impress upon the government the importance of manufacturing to the UK economy and the fact that “if you want to encourage manufacturing in the UK, you have to have some reason to invest”. Ineos’s Grangemouth plant was recently in the news after a dispute with Unite left the 800-staff business facing closure; the decision to close the plant, announced last week, was reversed when the union acquiesced to the company’s demands for a three-year pay freeze, an end to the final salary pension scheme and an agreement not to strike for three years....

The new device is set for commercial availability from UK distributor Hybrid Services in the first quarter of 2014. The JFX200-2513 is intended to be an entry-level option for printers in the sign and display sector. The manufacturer said the CMYK-plus-white machine can print at up to 25sqm/hr on sheets of 2.5×1.3m and up to 50mm thick and offered high-quality output at an affordable price. According to Mimaki, the new printer produces high-quality print by generating ink dots in three different sizes at once. It also employs a white ink for use on transparent materials, for backlit displays for example, or dark substrates. The machine has been designed with ease-of-use in mind, with the control panel, vacuum valves and ink supply on the front of the unit. General manager of marketing for Mimaki Europe, Mike Horsten said: “It is designed based on customer input as an entry-level printer with extreme ease of use but also incorporates many of the advanced features that Mimaki is known for in the sign and display graphics industry.” The new printer will be available with a range of ink options to support different substrate types. LH-100 is a hard UV-cured ink, which Mimaki said offered high rub and chemical resistance while maintaining image quality. LUS-150 is a low-cost UV-cured ink designed to be flexible so it can be used on curved surfaces without cracking. PR-100 is a primer ink that can be used as a pre-treatment agent to improve ink adhesion on difficult substrates. The machine will have its debut at Viscom next week....

The deal was finalised on Friday (25 October) and will see CM Downton take on all 180 C&H staff and take over the £23m turnover business’s operations with immediate effect. Andrew Downton, managing director of CM Downton, said: “The Downton Group has been looking to expand its business through either acquisition or mergers, and the C&H business was a perfect match. We both work in the same sectors – in particular with paper and publishing clients – and there are synergies for both businesses that made the deal a no-brainer. “C&H is a fantastic business with a great heritage, which unfortunately had suffered through the cash flow difficulties of the holding company. To be able to save this business – and its staff – while driving forward our own business was too good an opportunity to turn down. “We would like to clearly state that Downton has absolute confidence in Steve Mercer and the management team at C&H, and we will continue to work with them going forward as we build up this great business.” Phil Armstrong, partner at FRP Advisory and joint administrator, said: “We are delighted to have found a new home in CM Downton for the business of C&H, its staff and its array of loyal customers. “For more than 50 years C&H has transported core parts to Britain’s manufacturing base and its services have been integral to their success – that continuity of service is now secured under new ownership. “We would like in particular to thank the support of C&H customers which helped ensure a successful, swift turnaround through the protection of the administration process. We wish the purchaser and everyone involved with the business continued success for the future.” The deal means that 180 jobs are being rescued and sees Downton take over assets, including 130 tractor units and 250 trailers added to the Gloucestershire-based haulier’s...