Tag Archives: Materials

Appointments, News

A new face in France for composites sales

Global composites manufacturer Exel Composites has appointed Tiphaine Ricoup to the role of area sales manager for French-speaking Europe. As part of Exel’s global sales team, Mrs. Ricoup will work closely with existing customers and extend relations to new business. Exel Composites’ project workflow involves staying close to its customers throughout the R&D process and, with five years of sales experience, Mrs. Ricoup will be a dedicated contact for French speakers in France, Belgium, and Switzerland.

Mrs. Ricoup is a qualified engineer who has worked previously for the French Naval Group, managing target strength projects for the navy. She also designed technical solutions as a bid manager for the Exail Group, using underwater drones to destroy mines. This technical engineering experience will serve her well in her consultant capacity, as she’ll be available to answer customer queries, and will benefit the growing composites market in Western Europe.

“Opening up the potential of composite materials to France, Belgium, and Switzerland is my mission,” said Mrs. Ricoup. “Composites can help with so many issues in Europe, such as building thermal renovation, lightweight transportation components, and refurbishing infrastructure.

“Although the European manufacturing and engineering communities know composite materials and their benefits, I think highlighting the value of continuous manufacturing methods, such as pultrusion and pull-winding, will be an important part of my responsibilities,” continued Mrs. Ricoup. “Exel’s experience in these processes allows it to produce long profiles of uniform quality, with great speed and efficiency. I’m looking forward to returning to an active sales environment and forging relationships with new and existing customers.”

“Exel Composites’ market share in Europe is growing in a way we’re really happy with, so now is a perfect time to add Tiphaine to the team,” explained Roberto Oppio, head of sales for Western Europe at Exel Composites. “The combination of her sales and technical experience makes her a great fit to understand our customers’ needs and form strong relationships to be able to anticipate their requirements.

“Finding composite solutions across different industrial sectors is Exel’s business and Tiphaine strengthens the European team’s ability to find those solutions for customers. As the first point of contact and the face of Exel for French speakers across the region, she will ensure a high level of service and support for our customers.”

To find out how Exel Composites’ expertise in pultrusion and pull-winding could serve your business, contact the company at https://exelcomposites.com/contact-us/

News

Prova doubles down on Composite Braiding investment

Prova has announced a follow-on investment in European composite materials manufacturer Composite Braiding, having initially taken an equity stake in the business back in 2022. Coming as part of a seven-figure funding round, the capital injection will be used to strengthen manufacturing, bolster the workforce and purchase equipment as the company continues to experience rapid growth.

Composite Braiding uses an award-winning automated manufacturing process to combine thermoplastics with materials like carbon, glass and basalt fibres, to create a much lower embedded carbon solution for end products spanning the automotive, rail, sports equipment, maritime, and civil engineering sectors.

The unique process reduces labour costs by up to 90%, waste by 97% and uses 95% less energy, offering significantly cheaper and more sustainable materials, at scale, and at a faster rate.

Richard Postins, founder of Prova Investments, commented: “At Prova Investments, we’re excited to continue our journey with Composite Braiding in its mission to decarbonise the composite materials industry. With its novel processes to automate the manufacture of advanced composites using sustainable materials, Composite Braiding is a great fit for our cleantech and circular economy portfolio, and we’re looking forward to offering ongoing growth and support as it continues to pioneer composite manufacturing.”

Steve Barbour, founder at Composite Braiding, added: “Last year was focused on building up foundations, while 2024 will be pivotal for kick-starting production and delivering sustainable products across a variety of sectors. The close of our latest funding round marks a new milestone the Composite Braiding business. We are grateful for Prova Investments’ backing since its initial investment last year, and we’re looking forward to the continued support they can bring to our business moving forward.”

To find out more about Prova Investments, visit www.provapr.co.uk/investments, or visit https://compositebraiding.com/ to learn more about Composite Braiding.

News

International deal paves the way for Goodfellow’s scientific industry expansion

One of the UK’s leading manufacturers of specialist metals and materials has signed a new commercial agreement with Advanced Energy Minerals (AEM) to support its growing order book in the academic and research sectors.

Goodfellow Ltd, which recently delivered materials to the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory for the Nuclear Fusion Breakthrough that shook the world, will work with the Canadian company to build high purity alumina powders into its growing range.

The transatlantic deal gives the Huntingdon-based firm exclusivity for sales denominations of up to 20kg per line, covering nine high purity alumina powders, 5 gamma powders and 4 alpha powders.

Mark Fenton, Goodfellow’s Chief Operating Officer, commented: “This agreement will provide access to new materials, whilst also strengthening our portfolio for 6000+ customers that are always interested in high-quality chemicals.

“The scientific sector is a core market for our business and there is plenty of potential there for us to grow if we can continue to offer the highest purity of materials.”

He continued: “We hit the headlines last month through our close partnership with Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory on the Nuclear Fusion experiment, but this is just the tip of the iceberg.

“Goodfellow has also supplied materials for the particle accelerators and detectors used by CERN, whilst our expertise has also been channelled into European Spallation Source (ESS) projects.”

Michael Adams, CEO of Advanced Energy Minerals, added his support: “We are delighted to extend our presence in the academic sector thanks to the agreement signed with our partner Goodfellow.

“The deal, which will extend our global reach with scientists, universities and research institutions, also meets AEM’s ambition to become the preferred producer of premium alumina and other aluminium derivatives for the scientific community.”

Goodfellow is a leading global supplier of metals, alloys, ceramics, glasses, polymers, compounds, composites and other materials to meet the research, development and specialist production requirements of science and industry.

Located on Ermine Business Park in Huntingdon, the company has an extensive range of 150,000 catalogue products in multiple forms available off the shelf, most subject to free delivery within 48 hours and with no minimum order quantities.

It also offers a comprehensive range of bespoke processing services, effectively operating as an extension of a customer’s production team to develop custom-fabricated components in any quantity required.

Mark concluded: “Our in-house team comprises fellow scientists and engineers with extensive knowledge of materials and processing. Through their technical expertise, and a supporting range of specification tools, we have built an unrivalled reputation for finding solutions to the most challenging of research problems.”