Comment: There's a real buzz about the new-look MACH

The opening day of MACH 2018 was a tremendous success, when we were privileged to be joined by multiple Olympic sailing champion Sir Ben Ainslie to officially open the show.

There is a real buzz on site here at the NEC, the new Halls have refreshed the show and we can see from the visitor registrations, which are already up on the previous MACH show in 2016, that people are interested and engaged with the sector.

The other good news from the first day of the show is that BBC Breakfast have confirmed that they will be broadcasting live from MACH this morning, so do tune in a get a flavour of what is going here in Birmingham.

Over the course of this morning’s programme, Steph McGovern will be presenting several bulletins from the NEC. As a former ‘Young Engineer for Britain’ award winner for work she did for Black & Decker as an engineering apprentice, Steph is extremely knowledgeable about our sector and in particularly champions greater gender diversity.

It is not just about what is going on here in Birmingham, however. MACH is a good barometer for measuring the health of the manufacturing sector as a whole and at the moment things are looking extremely positive. The UK has a worldwide reputation for engineering excellence, and it is our job to shout this from the roof tops. MACH 2018 does exactly that.

MACH 2018 really is unmissable; as the organisers of the UK's largest advanced engineering showcase, we try to provide a fertile environment for our exhibitors to do business. I am already hearing positive reports of orders being taken and interest being shown in the phenomenal equipment and solutions on show here.

Even if you are just interested in learning a little bit more about this vital sector, please come along and experience it for yourself.

James Selka, MTA, CEO

MACH 2018 runs at the NEC Birmingham until the 13th April. Register for free here