The Mayor of Dudley attended the official opening of a new hi-tech manufacturing innovation centre in the borough

Sue Greenaway assisted company bosses with ribbon-cutting duties at the new centre, which will become a hub for manufacturing innovations and customer interactions,

The centre was opened on Tuesday.  The 18,015 sq ft site replaces the Swedish metal cutting firms’ original headquarters, which was on the same land and built in 1958, and will be the UK headquarters for the Sandvik Coromant Center global network. The Mayor said:

"I was delighted to be able to attend and celebrate the start of an exciting new chapter for one of the borough’s longest-running and most successful firms.

"Sandvik has been at the heart of the community in Halesowen for more than half a century, and a big employer and developer of talent in our borough.

“They provide Christmas trees for the town centre and local schools, sponsor Halesowen Town Football Club’s youth academy and are big backers of Halesowen in Bloom.

"I hope this new site will allow them to go from strength to strength, and look forward to seeing the Sandvik success story continue in years to come."