Evac+Chair International to represent UK manufacturing excellence at Science Museum

Evac+Chair International to represent UK manufacturing excellence at Science Museum

Birmingham-based, Evac+Chair International, has been selected to take part in an exhibition demonstrating the very best of British manufacturing this summer, alongside some of the biggest names in UK manufacturing excellence.

Beating competition from hundreds of companies, Evac+Chair International based in Tyseley, Birmingham will feature in the Government’s Make it in Great Britain exhibition alongside Jaguar Land Rover, Rolls Royce and BAE Systems.  The exhibition will take place at the Science Museum, London during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.

The exhibition is the culmination of the Make it in Great Britain campaign – an initiative launched last year by the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills which aims to challenge outdated opinions and transform the image of modern manufacturing.

Evac+Chair is the original manufacturer and the world’s leading supplier of evacuation chairs, designed to allow people who are mobility impaired to safely descend staircases in the event of an emergency, without the need for lifting or great physical strength. The company employs more than 70 people and from its manufacturing base in the heart of Birmingham, it produces and distributes more than 7,500 units per year to customers in the UK and more than 30 countries including the USA, Japan, India, New Zealand and South Africa.

Barry Scholes founded Evac+Chair International in 1989.  He still works for the company as finance director.  He said:“We are delighted that we are going to be a part of the Make it in Great Britain exhibition, and as a relatively small manufacturing business, we feel very proud to be selected alongside the giants of British manufacturing.  It is a fantastic opportunity to showcase UK innovation especially at a time when all eyes will be on the UK is a wonderful thing.

“We are looking forward to helping to show the general public what the manufacturing industry is really all about, and we hope that lots of people from the Midlands will come to the exhibition to support us.”

The opportunity to showcase in the exhibition was open to manufacturing companies nationwide, with organisers keen to raise awareness about the dynamic, advanced and innovative industry that exists in the UK today.

Business Minister Mark Prisk said:

“Manufacturing accounts for 8 percent of total UK employment and well over half of export goods, yet current perceptions of the industry are out of date and do not reflect that reality. We have selected a really exciting mix of exhibits, and I hope that as many people as possible visit the exhibition and see all of the great examples of British design and manufacturing – it will be spectacular.”

Ian Blatchford, Director of the Science Museum commented:

“We’re incredibly excited to be hosting the Make it in Great Britain exhibition this summer. The Science Museum and its world-leading collections demonstrate some of the greatest engineering achievements of the last 200 years. We hope that as many people as possible visit the exhibition, and see at first-hand how innovation in British manufacturing is still thriving today.”

The exhibition will be open from 24 July to 9 September and is free to visit. For more information please visit www.bis.gov.uk/makeitingreatbritain.

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