£18.27 million investment puts Midlands firmly on the map for advanced ceramics

Tuesday, 1 February 2022

The Midlands Industrial Ceramics Group has secured £18.27 million funding from UK Research and Innovation’s flagship Strength in Places Fund (SIPF), to put the area firmly on the map as a global centre for advanced ceramics.

Thousands of jobs and a state-of-the-art campus facility are set to be created in the Midlands after the region’s bid to become a world-leader in advanced ceramics received the significant cash boost.

Formed by some of the region’s largest businesses and universities, the MICG was launched in 2020 to deliver a world-leading approach to advanced ceramics.

The successful outcome of the SIPF funding is set to unlock further investment from MICG’s partners, making the scheme a £42.1 million project, which will ultimately contribute towards the growth of 4,200 jobs in the region by 2030.

Membership of the MICG is made up of blue-chip companies and SMEs including Rolls-Royce, JCB, Morgan Advanced Materials and Lucideon – as well as the universities of Birmingham, Leicester and Loughborough.

Ian Edmonds, of Rolls-Royce, is the chair of MICG. He said: “This is great news for the Midlands.

“Advanced ceramics are often unseen but vital components of jet engines, electronics, medical devices, car batteries, other energy technologies and many more manufactured products. 

“They allow products to operate at higher temperatures, in more challenging environments and can last longer than plastic or metal equivalents.

“Globally, the advanced ceramics sector is projected to be worth £143 billion by 2023, and the outcome of this funding means the Midlands is well-placed to be part of it.”

The Strength in Places Fund co-invests with businesses in activity to further enhance legacy strengths within a geographic area, taking an industry from the past and transforming into a larger-scale, more innovative sector.

Professor Jon Binner, of the University of Birmingham, said: “As a result of our history in ceramics that goes back centuries, and an extensive manufacturing base, the Midlands hosts the UK’s largest cluster of both users and producers of advanced ceramics.

“This SIPF investment will form part of a co-ordinated effort to grow the whole advanced ceramics supply chain in the Midlands, maximising the UK’s ability to compete more effectively in this global market.”

Central to the bid is an Advanced Ceramics Campus, a 130,000 square feet development, proposed for North Staffordshire.

Tony Kinsella, chief executive of Lucideon, said: “The campus will provide an important hub for industry, offering a centre of excellence for research and development, as well as underpinning academic research.

“It will create an environment for business and academia to share knowledge and collaborate on research and development, safeguarding existing jobs and allowing existing companies to expand, as well as providing opportunities for new start-ups.

“The campus will also have knock-on benefits across the Midlands, with innovation improving productivity and competitiveness in manufacturing, helping to ‘level up’ the region’s economy and create new efficiencies to drive down emissions.”

More details about MICG can be found at https://micg.org.uk/

ENDS

Notes to editors

The Midlands Industrial Ceramics Group (MICG):

The Midlands Industrial Ceramics Group (MICG) has been established to ensure advanced ceramics help drive the competitiveness and success of Midlands advanced manufacturing by tackling key innovation challenges.

Advanced ceramics are vital to fulfil the growing need for high performance materials in ever more demanding conditions across a wide variety of manufacturing sectors.

The MICG’ research programme will combine industrial and academic expertise to create a unified process for the development and commercialisation of new and enhanced processes and products.

The wider aims of the MICG are to:

• Make the Midlands the go-to location for the global R&D and production of advanced ceramics
• Increase the competitiveness of the Midlands industrial base
• Enhance industrial ability to develop innovative ceramic technologies with speedy marketplace adoption
• Deliver a multi-sectoral approach with rapid translation of new technologies for the advantage of a whole range of industrial sectors
• Strengthen the UK advanced ceramics supply chain for the benefit of the Midlands advanced manufacturing sector.

The MICG will drive technological breakthroughs in advanced ceramic materials and their manufacturing processes, leading to the development of lower energy and cost routes for functional and structural advanced ceramics.

Its partners are clear that to continue to compete internationally there is an urgent need to constantly enhance current processes and develop future manufacturing techniques, in the area of advanced ceramics.

Partners

• Rolls Royce
• Morgan Advanced Materials
• JCB
• Vesuvius (Foseco)
• Trelleborg Retford
• Lucideon
• McGeoch Technology (Precision Ceramics)
• Prince Minerals
• AEON Engineering
• CDS
• Mantec Technical Ceramics
• PCL Ceramics
• University of Birmingham
• University of Leicester
• Loughborough University
• WCM

Press release written by Jane Shepherd, Shepherd PR, 01538 308685 or 07985 129315