Leading business figure aims to support new generation of manufacturers

ONE of Yorkshire's best-known business figures has taken a senior role at an organisation which aims to create a new generation of manufacturing leaders.
Yorkshire businesswoman Margaret WoodYorkshire businesswoman Margaret Wood
Yorkshire businesswoman Margaret Wood

Margaret Wood has been appointed as a non-executive director at the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, which supports the application of new technologies through the development of manufacturing processes.

Mrs Wood, who set up the Wakefield-based window company ICW (UK), has banged the drum for Yorkshire businesses on a national scale.

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Mrs Wood said she was passionate about ensuring innovation has the backing it needs to reach the market and benefit society. She is also a former regional chairman of the Institute of Directors.

Mrs Wood is one of five new appointments to the board, which now includes Stephen Burgess, Mary Champion, Allan Cook and Andy Neely.

Mrs Wood said: “As a scientist, and an active member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology, I am delighted to join the board.

She added: “As a niche manufacturer, I hope to be able to give a voice to other small-and-medium-sized enterprises in the technical sector who are keen to scale up their developments to benefit society.”

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Welcoming the five appointments, Bob Gilbert, the chairman of the High Value Manufacturing Catapult supervisory board, said: “I am delighted to welcome such a strong group of people to the board. They bring both industrial experience and financial acumen.”

He said the catapult would support businesses that wanted to turn great ideas into commercial success stories. The High Value Manufacturing Catapult brings together seven institutions to support UK manufacturing in the commercialisation of technologies.

The centres include the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre at the University of Sheffield.