WOTTON under Edge based engineering company Renishaw has won a coveted accolade.

At The Manufacturer MX Awards, the firm scooped the Manufacturing in Action award.

The awards are delivered by The Manufacturer - a UK industry publication - and the Institution of Mechanical Engineers (IMechE) to benchmark performance across eleven manufacturing categories.

The companies shortlisted for the award were those felt to exemplify the best characteristics of future-facing, progressive businesses.

On November 15, as part of Digital Manufacturing Week, the awards were presented at the Exhibition Centre Liverpool.

Although Renishaw's headquarters are in Wotton, the firm has sites in other locations too, and it was its South Wales facility in Miskin, near Cardiff that attracted recognition in this case.

The site includes production halls for machining and assembly, low-volume production line and the Healthcare Centre of Excellence. Also at the Miskin site is the Fabrication Development Centre, a dedicated education facility, which local schools can use as part of their science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) lessons.

“Since acquiring the Miskin facility in 2011, we have built a strong team who have successfully applied the manufacturing strategies in use at our other UK sites, with strong support from staff at those sites, especially during the early years,” explained Gareth Hankins, director – group manufacturing services of Renishaw.

“To win this prestigious award is a real compliment to the wider team in Renishaw’s manufacturing services operation, particularly when we consider the achievements of the other excellent shortlisted companies.”

“Renishaw represents innovation and technological advancement at every level and winning The Manufacturer MX Award for Manufacturing in Action showcases Renishaw as a forward-thinking engineering business that has truly invested in the future,” said Jonny Williamson, editor of The Manufacturer.

“Of everything I saw during my tour of Miskin, I was particularly taken with Renishaw’s machining hall. The company has developed an impressive, highly sophisticated system that works to an incredible degree of accuracy by leveraging the very best of the physical and digital world.”

Renishaw celebrated its 45th birthday in 2018 and in that time has grown into an industry-leading organisation that employs over 5,000 people in 36 countries. For the year ended June 2018, Renishaw recorded sales of £611.5 million of which 95 per cent was due to exports.

The business started by manufacturing precision metrology probes and has developed into new and exciting markets such as medical robots and metal 3D printing.