AddiWire

Additive manufacturing news and European prices, with independent expert commentary

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AMUK

Business

UK AM founder: weak funding and low visibility hold back strong engineering

Jonathan Rowley, co-founder of Additive Companion, says British additive manufacturing has more expertise than it is credited with, but suffers from poor visibility, rigid funding rules and growing foreign price competition. His comments come as the UK prepares to be Partner Country at Formnext 2026 in Frankfurt, 17 to 20 November. AMUK data cited alongside shows public AM R&D funding falling from £81 million to £17 million in a year.

1 sourceFormnext 2026
Events

Fastech brings large WAAM and laser wire DED parts to Formnext on the UK pavilion

Fastech Engineering will exhibit wire-based metal additive manufacturing at Formnext 2026 in Frankfurt, 17 to 20 November, on the AMUK Pavilion in Hall 12.0. The company combines WAAM and laser wire DED with CNC machining and inspection, and its additive technology manager speaks at two sessions on qualification and production use in energy, aerospace and defence.

1 sourceFormnext 2026