ChargePoint Technology invested in a new 5-axis machine, automated washing plant and coordinate measuring machine at its Liverpool headquarters, as part of a wider £1 million investment to speed production of containment valves up to 350mm.

Vanden Recycling has opened a new plastics processing facility in Whittlesey, Cambridgeshire.

AIM-listed pumps and motors group Hayward Tyler agreed an all-share merger with fellow AIM engineer Avingtrans, valuing Hayward at 51.6p per share, subject to shareholder approval of a scheme of arrangement.

Diamond Box, a UK corrugated packaging manufacturer in West Bromwich, secured an £8m finance package from Bibby Financial Services to buy a dual-print corrugated printing press.

Thermos, a manufacturer of portable insulated food and drink containers, acquired Leeds-based distributor Brands Home & Leisure Group, its distribution partner since 2001, to expand in the UK market.

Board24, part of the Logson Group, is investing a further £5m to extend its Preston sheet feeder operation by 4,000sqm, raising loading and storage capacity by 30% and adding a fourth material handling line.

Group HES is investing £150,000 in special purpose machinery to end-form large bore high pressure pipes up to 10 inches, and will become a UK base for the Parker Pipework Centre.

Group HES won a record contract from Galliford Try to supply, build and install four hydraulic ring mains powering the new Airbus Wing Integration Centre in Filton, Bristol.

Shareholders of Wood Group and Amec Foster Wheeler overwhelmingly approved Wood Group's recommended all-share offer to merge the two engineering companies.

Lidl has awarded door manufacturer Hörmann a contract to supply 120 loading bays for a new 600,000 sq ft regional distribution centre in Avonmouth, with work starting in August 2017 and completion due in spring 2018.

Velan won a £42.3 million contract from NNB Generation Co (HPC) to supply nuclear valves for the two EPR reactors at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, to be manufactured in Lyon and Mennecy, France.

Kirkcaldy-based Smith Anderson has agreed a three-year extension to supply paper bags to McDonald's, worth £35 million, following a competitive tender. The deal runs to at least 2020 and extends supply into Poland and central eastern Europe.

Velan will supply high-pressure gate, globe and check valves for two EPR reactors at Hinkley Point C in Somerset, UK, under contracts worth about US$55 million recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2017. Delivery is scheduled for 2019-2021.

Velan Inc received contracts worth US$55 million to supply safety-related valves for third-generation nuclear reactors at Hinkley Point C in the U.K., with delivery scheduled for 2019-2021.

KSB signed as a supplier for the Hinkley Point C nuclear plant in Somerset, England, with orders worth about USD 32.75 million. It will deliver four primary cooling pumps by 2020, and its subsidiaries will supply valves for 2019 to 2021 delivery.

Progroup subsidiary Prowell plans a corrugated sheet mega plant in Ellesmere Port near Liverpool, UK, investing EUR 75 million. It will produce up to 235,000 tpy and is planned to start by Q3 2018.

Danish AVK Holdings has acquired the majority share of Chesterfield, England-based polyethylene electrofusion fittings maker Fusion Group Limited for an undisclosed sum.

ECS Engineering Services has been awarded a Scottish Canals contract to replace four steel lock gates at Kytra Lock on the Caledonian Canal in Scotland, with KGAL supporting site surveys.

The British Royal Navy selected Babcock as preferred bidder to be marine systems support partner for Queen Elizabeth-class carriers and Daring-class destroyers, a MoD programme potentially worth £360m over seven years, subject to contract.

Signum Technology, backed by Phoenix Equity Partners, has acquired industrial filter and strainer maker Vee Bee Filtration of Stourbridge for an undisclosed sum. The deal was reported on 28 March 2017.

Weir Flow Control won an order from SMOP, the EPC contractor, for 132 pressure relief valves and 130 control and choke valves for Maersk Oil's Culzean gas field in the UK North Sea. The valves will be made at Weir plants in Elland, UK and Vendin-le-Vieil, France. The announcement was made on 20 March 2017.

FES International, a fluid transfer equipment producer, was awarded a contract by National Oilwell Varco to design, manufacture and supply driverless bend stiffener connectors for Maersk Oil UK's Culzean gas field in the North Sea. No contract value was disclosed.

John Wood Group agreed terms on a recommended all-share offer for Amec Foster Wheeler, valuing the target's issued share capital at about GBP 2,225 million, with Amec shareholders receiving 0.75 new Wood Group shares per share.

Leicester-based CPS Flexible and Kirkby in Ashfield-based Mercury Packaging merged under a holding company, Quicksilver, creating a £16m flexible packaging group that will keep both brands. The deal was reported on 5 March 2017.

Private investment firm Bain Capital, through its Europe fund, is acquiring UK packaging company Petainer, a deal that runs alongside its purchase of Belgian preform maker Resilux and may see the businesses combined.

Printing and Packaging Co Ltd of Hinckley, Leicester has bought a Rapida 106 seven-colour double coater press from Koenig & Bauer to add capacity and coating options. The press is due to be installed at the end of March 2017.

A consortium led by Lontra has received a £1.5 million Energy Catalyst grant from Innovate UK to apply its Blade Compressor as turbo compounding to improve fuel efficiency of 1MW power generation engines. The project takes the technology through concept to hardware and testing.

Scotland Excel awarded Craemer UK Limited a GBP 50 million contract to supply and deliver recycling and refuse containers, bins and sacks to local authorities in Scotland.

Smurfit Kappa's Tannochside plant in Scotland has introduced C&T Channel Matrix's Corrugate creasing matrix on its high-speed bottling line. The plant produces packaging for distilleries, food producers and pharmaceutical customers.

Mondi Group bought UK-based Excelsior Technologies from funds managed by Endless and minority shareholders for a total consideration of GBP 33 million on a debt and cash-free basis. Excelsior operates plants in Deeside and Nelson and makes flexible food packaging.

CM Downton has extended its transport contract with DS Smith Plastics for two years after a competitive tender. Downton delivers up to 10 multi-drop loads of plastics packaging daily from the Gloucester plant to UK customers.

i2r Packaging Solutions opened a new warehouse at its Telford manufacturing facility after investing about £1.5m in 2016. Staff are expected to rise from 85 to 100 and the company plans to add aluminium and paper lines.

Neway Valve (Suzhou) signed a supply contract with AREVA for nuclear valves for the HPC nuclear power project in Britain, co-invested by EDF and CNPE. The order covers over 2,000 nuclear valves for the nuclear island of two units with 3.2 GW total capacity.

UK public buying body ESPO appointed Pack King Ltd and L&F Contractors under a single-lot framework worth £2.1m for packaging materials and pallet supply to its Grove Park facility in Leicester, running 16 January 2017 to 14 January 2018.

TVS Supply Chain Solutions won a contract renewal from Molson Coors after a competitive tender, supporting its 250 field technicians and taking over operation of the Equipment Returns Centre in Burton upon Trent.

Japanese RFID company SATO Holdings acquired the remaining 66.7% stake in UK-based inline digital printing company DataLase, which makes laser coding and marking materials for packaging.

Invertek is investing in a new 5,000 square metre factory adjacent to its Welshpool HQ, enabling production of over 400,000 variable frequency drives per year. The announcement was reported on 4 January 2017.

Northern Ireland Water awarded a compressor and blower framework contract worth up to an estimated GBP 12.5 million for supply, installation and commissioning. Aerzen Machines Ltd and Sulzer Pumps both won places on the framework.

Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group, part of Spirax-Sarco, acquired Aflex Hose Limited and its US subsidiary for £61.4 million. Aflex, based in Halifax, England, makes PTFE-lined flexible hose for the pharmaceutical, food and chemical industries.

RPC Containers Blackburn developed a new, narrower 3.6L injection-moulded PET jar in a custom mould for Tangerine Confectionery's sweet range, reported November 28, 2016.

Harland and Wolff Heavy Industries has won a contract believed to be worth £20m to manufacture 60 steel foundation jackets for the East Anglia One offshore windfarm off the East Anglian coast, safeguarding 200 jobs at its Belfast shipyard.

Advent International Corp has agreed a recommended cash offer of 165 pence per share to acquire UK industrial parts distributor Brammer Plc, valuing the deal at 221.5 million pounds.

Kettering-based VP Packaging has acquired Rotherham-based bubble film company Envelopemaster for an undisclosed fee. The companies say the deal will secure jobs in Kettering and Rotherham.

US-based Brundage-Bone has partnered with UK concrete pumping businesses Camfaud Concrete Pumps, Premier Concrete Pumping and South Coast Concrete Pumping to create a combined concrete pumping group. Terms were not disclosed.

Costain has been awarded a £113 million contract by National Grid to upgrade its Peterborough and Huntingdon gas compressor stations, with work running to 2021. The scope covers detailed design, decommissioning, build and recommissioning.

Enterprise Tondelli was awarded the contract for a 15,000 bottles-per-hour beer bottling line, including a glass depalletiser and conveyor automation, for BrewDog's new craft brewery in Ellon, Aberdeenshire. The brewery officially opened on Saturday 19 January.

Quadpack Industries and UK packaging provider Collcap Group merged to become a leading European maker and supplier of packaging for the beauty industry, retaining the Quadpack name. Collcap's Leek office becomes the centre of UK operations while Quadpack's Barcelona office stays as global headquarters.

Denver-based Brundage-Bone Concrete Pumping has acquired three UK concrete pumping firms: Camfaud Concrete Pumps, Premier Concrete Pumping and South Coast Concrete Pumping. Terms were not disclosed.

Fort Vale Engineering is adding a new casting foundry and a sports and recreation centre at its Calder Vale Park site in Burnley, jointly valued at £5.7 million. The projects mark the company's 50 years of service in 2017.

Integrity Print has acquired Cardiff-based label maker Alliance Labels for an undisclosed fee. The deal was reported on 2016-11-16.