DUP Welcomes Royal Navy Boost For Harland & Wolff

East Belfast DUP MP Gavin Robinson has welcomed the news that British-led Team Resolute has been selected as the preferred bidder to build new support ships for the Royal Navy.

Team Resolute includes Harland & Wolff and the final assembly of the three vessels will take place in Belfast.

The £1.6billion contract is to manufacture three 216-metre-long naval support ships providing munitions, stores and provisions to the Royal Navy's aircraft carriers, destroyers and frigates deployed at sea.

Mr Robinson said: "This is fantastic news for Belfast and Northern Ireland as a whole, but primarily for Harland & Wolff and everyone associated with the company. As part of Team Resolute they have pledged to invest £77million in shipyard infrastructure to support the British shipbuilding sector. Harland & Wolff's Belfast operation will be heavily involved throughout the process through both construction and final assembly stages.

"The majority of work will take place across the UK and I am delighted that workers in Belfast will be playing a key role in delivering these state of the art vessels for the Royal Navy and contributing to our nation's defence capabilities.

"Harland & Wolff has been part of some of the most significant chapters of our history. However, today's announcement reminds us that it remains a significant national asset, as one of only three UK shipbuilders suitable for major MOD contract. The shipyard will continue to be a key asset for Belfast and Northern Ireland for a long time to come."

New East Belfast Bus Lanes Operational From 21 November

The Department for Infrastructure has announced that two extended bus lanes in East Belfast will come into operation from Monday, 21 November.

The existing city-bound bus lanes have been extended to give additional priority to buses on the Ballygowan Road and on the Castlereagh Road between Montgomery Road and Newry Street. The lanes will be operational Monday to Friday from 7.30 am until  9.30 am.

In addition 800 metres of new bus lane on the country bound side of the Castlereagh Road between Orby Link and Montgomery Road, will come into operation Monday to Friday between the hours  of 3.30 pm and 6.30 pm.

The lanes will be available to buses, motorcycles, bicycles and permitted taxis during the periods of operation and to all vehicles at other times. Lanes will be clearly marked with white lines and the associated signs.

The Castlereagh Road corridor is the one of the first Metro routes in Belfast to be operated with modern high quality Zero Emission buses.

CAFRE Host 'Food Factory Of The Future' Event

CAFRE, the College of Agriculture, Food and Rural Enterprise, in partnership with the Northern Ireland Technology Centre (NITC) at Queen's University Belfast, have held an event to highlight how the principles of Advanced Manufacturing can benefit food processing businesses.

Advanced Manufacturing can mitigate key challenges including access to labour, rising costs of materials and sustainability impacts that are affecting how businesses operate whilst trying to remain competitive. The event showcased equipment suppliers, integrators and data systems for an increasingly autonomous processing industry. Attracting a large audience of industry delegates, academic staff and policy makers who engaged with the demonstrators and listened to speakers the event proved a popular forum for discussions.

Peter Simpson, Head of Food Technology at CAFRE, provided an overview of the key recommendations of the Digital Roadmap for Advanced Manufacturing in Agri-food – the outcome of a workshop held at Loughry Campus in May 2022. Recommendations included the need for a focus on skills development and knowledge transfer.

William McColgan from McColgans Quality Foods and Peter Higgins from NITC presented case study examples of the challenges and opportunities for industry in adopting Advanced Food Manufacturing technologies, highlighting the importance of data analytics for decision making

'Futureproofing the Food Industry Driving Smarter Decisions with Digital Solutions' was delivered by Sean Baird, Business Development Executive, Foods Connected. This provided an insight into a range of digital platforms built by a local company for a global market.

Finally, Andrew Martin, Head of Food & Drink, Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) Cymru and Chair of High Value Manufacturing Catapult (HVMC) Food and Drink Community Wales highlighted the lessons learnt on a digital journey from a Welsh perspective. This included the challenges in quality, production visibility, space constraints, labour availability, product quality and waste, all contributing to the complexities in improving process efficiency.