PEOPLE WATCH
Brandauer makes European appointment
UK metal stamping specialist, Brandauer, is targeting £ 2.5m of new EU opportunities after appointing a new European technical specialist. Brandauer, which provides precision components for more than 15 high-value sectors, has brought in Jürgen Wollbold to increase its presence in France, Germany and Spain.
Brandauer, which currently holds King’ s Awards for Innovation and International Trade, sends millions of precision components to more than 23 different countries every week. Whilst the US, the Middle East and China continue to be its biggest markets, there is a major push underway to increase customer share in the EU.
“ Jürgen Wollbold has over 30 years of experience in the automotive and medical sectors as well as significant technical knowledge of new product development, stamping and tooling. He is being charged with nurturing and strengthening existing relationships in the EU, alongside building new opportunity with clients who will benefit from our capability in automotive connectors, power grid infrastructure components and EV /
Jürgen Wollbold.
Stamped air bag part from Brandauer.
thin-gauge laminations,” Brandauer explained.
“ About £ 1m of orders are currently shipped to the EU annually and we believe that we can almost treble that over the next twelve months. What we needed was a strong presence on the ground and an expert who is multilingual, removing language barriers with potential clients. Jürgen is an industry expert with lots of experience in sectors where our capabilities can really make a difference. He also has significant technical knowledge, which means he can work with customers from initial enquiry into product introductions and scaling into medium to high volumes,” commented Rowan Crozier, CEO, Brandauer. Wollbold’ s native proficiency in German,
New CEO for Automate UK
Trade association, Automate UK, has appointed Dan Thombs as its new CEO, tasked with“ accelerating the organisation’ s reach and impact across the complete industrial ecosystem.” Dan succeeds Peter Williamson, who has taken on the role of Policy Director before reaching the end of his term.
Dan brings 30 years of experience Dan Thombs. in automation and advanced manufacturing to the role and is End-User Membership programme, already focused on what comes bringing manufacturers closer next for Automate UK: expanding its to the automation community, member services, reach and impact giving them a stronger voice in and accelerating automation adoption industry discussions and helping in all sectors of the UK economy. to shape the future direction of UK
“ As a not-for-profit organisation, manufacturing,” he added. Automate UK is a neutral body and He confirmed that the organisation trusted partner to the industry, with aims to“ further maximise its no vested or commercial interest lobbying powers to partner with other of its own. My role, and that of trade associations, funding bodies Automate UK, is to support our and government agencies to grow members and UK industry as a whole the UK economy through increased by helping to drive productivity and productivity.” n growth through the adoption of automation,” he said. www. automate-uk. com /“ We will be introducing a new
fluency in French and English, and B2 proficiency in Spanish will provide the company with clarity on the requirements of European customers. Having a multilingual representative on hand in Europe will prove useful for Brandauer during Design For Manufacturing( DFM) workshops, initial discovery calls and at international exhibitions. Wollbold will be making his Brandauer debut at Micronora at the end of September in France, the first time that the business has exhibited at the microtechnology trade fair.
“ I have spent many decades working across Europe, primarily in machining, tooling and product development— three areas that fit perfectly with my new role at Brandauer,” said Jürgen, who has held senior roles at Forvia, Septodont, Centrotec and VMI Industries.
“ We have identified £ 5m of new opportunities across the EU and I feel it is more than reasonable to believe we can convert at least half of these, especially those that involve precision stamping, in-house tooling, laminations and press-fit applications,” he added. n
www
. brandauer. co. uk
Rigaux becomes Chair / CEO of Novacel
Novacel has confirmed the appointment of Emmanuel Rigaux as Chairman and CEO, from 1 July 2026. His arrival marks an important milestone for the company, which became part of the KPS Capital Partners portfolio on 19 May 2026. Rigaux( previously CEO of the Heras Group) succeeds Philippe Denoix, who is retiring after twenty years of service at Novacel and Compagnie Chargeurs Invest.
“ With more than twenty years of experience in executive roles at international industrial companies, Emmanuel Rigaux joins Novacel at a pivotal moment in its development. Throughout his career, he has successfully driven growth, led operational transformations and delivered strong performance in complex international environments, particularly within companies backed by private equity firms. Under his leadership, we intend to accelerate growth, strengthen our innovation capabilities and expand our international presence,” said the company.
Novacel is an international industrial company headquartered in Déville-lès-Rouen, France. The company’ s history dates back to 1960 with the creation of the adhesive films and tapes business by the Pricel Group. The Novacel brand, launched in 1982, has since established itself as a global specialist in the market for surface protection solutions. n
www. novacel-solutions. com
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