
Hotel Showers: Making Every Drop Count
A weary traveller steps into the shower of a hotel bathroom. As the hot water hits, a familiar mental oblivion sets in, easing the exhaustion of the day. She is on her way to a






A weary traveller steps into the shower of a hotel bathroom. As the hot water hits, a familiar mental oblivion sets in, easing the exhaustion of the day. She is on her way to a

For offshore wind developers, knowing what lies beneath the waves is a fundamental part of designing and building a project. Before turbines, foundations and cables can be installed, survey teams need to build up a

Modern society’s appetite for computing power is expanding at an unprecedented rate. Long before artificial intelligence transformed the tech landscape, data centres were already the invisible engine room of the modern economy, underpinning global banking

When humanity last stood upon the Moon during the Apollo missions over fifty years ago, the journey across the 400,000-kilometre gulf was defined by monumental state-funded budgets and raw national effort. Today, the modern space
Manufacturing accounts for 8% of UK GDP directly. Counting its supply chains and the spending of the people it employs, that figure rises to 23%, according to a 2024 Oxford Economics study for the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA). Yet the sector pays some of the highest energy costs in Europe and relies heavily on imported materials. It also struggles to recruit, held back by an image that no longer matches the modern factory floor.
At the same time, many workshops are sitting partly idle. Xometry’s 2027 Manufacturing Outlook report found that 37% of smaller manufacturers are carrying spare capacity, against 11% of larger ones. Meanwhile buyers still contend with slow quotation processes and fragile single-source supply chains. Engineering teams are shrinking, and the time lost to sourcing carries a cost that unit price alone does not show.
In this episode, MTA president Stewart Lane describes the pressures on British manufacturing, including the wait for clarity on defence spending. Oscar Lovera of Xometry explains how on-demand manufacturing is filling idle capacity and helping engineers iterate faster, with quality checks that combine AI and people on the ground.
Guests
Stewart Lane, President, Manufacturing Technologies Association; Head of Business Development, EMEA, Renishaw
Oscar Lovera, Chief Operating Officer, Xometry
Resources
To find out more about the Manufacturing Technologies Association, click here
To read the 2024 report: The True Impact of British Manufacturing, click here
To read the MACH 2026 survey on Sovereign Capacity and Industrial Strategy, click here
To read Xometry’s Manufacturing Outlook report for EMEA in 2027, click here
To see the Top Gear video showcasing British engineering, click here
Partner
Xometry is an AI-native marketplace and a suite of cloud-based services that are rapidly digitising the manufacturing industry. Xometry provides manufacturers with the critical resources they need to grow their businesses and streamlines the procurement process for buyers through real-time pricing and lead time data.


Manufacturing accounts for 8% of UK GDP directly. Counting its supply chains and the spending of the people it employs, that figure rises to 23%, according to a 2024 Oxford Economics study for the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA). Yet the sector pays some of the highest energy costs in Europe and relies heavily on imported materials. It also struggles to recruit, held back by an image that no longer matches the modern factory floor.
At the same time, many workshops are sitting partly idle. Xometry’s 2027 Manufacturing Outlook report found that 37% of smaller manufacturers are carrying spare capacity, against 11% of larger ones. Meanwhile buyers still contend with slow quotation processes and fragile single-source supply chains. Engineering teams are shrinking, and the time lost to sourcing carries a cost that unit price alone does not show.
In this episode, MTA president Stewart Lane describes the pressures on British manufacturing, including the wait for clarity on defence spending. Oscar Lovera of Xometry explains how on-demand manufacturing is filling idle capacity and helping engineers iterate faster, with quality checks that combine AI and people on the ground.
Guests
Stewart Lane, President, Manufacturing Technologies Association; Head of Business Development, EMEA, Renishaw
Oscar Lovera, Chief Operating Officer, Xometry
Resources
To find out more about the Manufacturing Technologies Association, click here
To read the 2024 report: The True Impact of British Manufacturing, click here
To read the MACH 2026 survey on Sovereign Capacity and Industrial Strategy, click here
To read Xometry’s Manufacturing Outlook report for EMEA in 2027, click here
To see the Top Gear video showcasing British engineering, click here
Partner
Xometry is an AI-native marketplace and a suite of cloud-based services that are rapidly digitising the manufacturing industry. Xometry provides manufacturers with the critical resources they need to grow their businesses and streamlines the procurement process for buyers through real-time pricing and lead time data.






A weary traveller steps into the shower of a hotel bathroom. As the hot water hits, a familiar mental oblivion sets in, easing the exhaustion of the day. She is on her way to a

For offshore wind developers, knowing what lies beneath the waves is a fundamental part of designing and building a project. Before turbines, foundations and cables can be installed, survey teams need to build up a

Modern society’s appetite for computing power is expanding at an unprecedented rate. Long before artificial intelligence transformed the tech landscape, data centres were already the invisible engine room of the modern economy, underpinning global banking

When humanity last stood upon the Moon during the Apollo missions over fifty years ago, the journey across the 400,000-kilometre gulf was defined by monumental state-funded budgets and raw national effort. Today, the modern space

More than 80 years after the end of the Second World War, millions of tonnes of ammunition remain on the seabed around Europe. Some of it is corroding, releasing explosive compounds into the surrounding water

For much of the history of modern civil engineering, the answer to environmental problems has been to build something: a wall to hold back a river, a channel to move water away, or a treatment

For many small construction companies and sole traders, the current market is a difficult one. Economic uncertainty, tight margins and the pressure of finding the next project can make running a business feel like a
HS2’s Learning Legacy Podcast is a five-part series exploring the Learning Legacy programme.
HS2 is one of the most complex and challenging railway scheme the UK has ever undertaken. As such, it has been generating vast amounts of data across the board. Every geological survey, every design, every site, every environmental survey, all generating more and more data.
So with all this data, what do you do with it?
The final episode of the Learning Legacy Podcast looks at how HS2 has been using their data to build more detailed models, advance approaches to work and better equipment that can provide greater insights into the world of construction engineering.
Featuring:
Roberto Alberola – TYPSA, Head of BIM and Digital
Peter Ruff – SCS, Head of BIM
Jonny Neville – Mott Macdonald, Engineering Geologist and Information Manager
Idarousse Mouhtar – BBV, Senior Materials Engineer
Dr Anne-Marie Imafidon MBE – Social Entrepreneur and Computer Scientist
Roberto and Peter dive into the creation of a digital version of the project using Building Information Modelling (BIM) and ensuring there is a single point of truth so all designers and contractors along the length of the project are on the same page.
Jonny and Idarousse talk through the process of earthworks excavation by using a new 3D GeoBIM model which allows for more advanced ground investigation surveys. Further pushing the importance of the planning process before putting a spade in the ground.
Dr Anne-Marie closes out the series with an extract from her speech given at HS2’s Learning Legacy Live event. Highlighting having a growing mindset, experimenting along with learning from our actions and asking “how” we do things.
Find out more about HS2’s Learning Legacy Programme at: https://learninglegacy.hs2.org.uk/
