• • • NEWS • • •
Cenex and Flexible Power Systems sign technology research and development MoU with Korean partners to advance safety and efficiency in Electric Fleet Applications
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co-operation has been established between UK (Cenex, FPS) and Korean (Thallos, Innoca, KETI and KAATA) partners to evaluate opportunities for deploying smart city and smart grid enabled e-fleet and charger management platforms alongside cutting edge in-vehicle safety systems in the commercial vehicle sectors in both the UK and Korea.
This activity is part of project SLICED (Smarter Logistics through In-Vehicle, City and Energy Data) an Innovate-UK funded feasibility study. Cenex, a not-for-profit research organisation active in providing fleets and cities with net-zero transition support will bring together a stakeholder user group to define customer led use cases which enhance logistic operations and the urban environment through improvements in data driven decision making. South Korean partners will develop a smart in-vehicle driver monitoring systems focused on providing driver warnings for accident prevention and feedback on driving efficiency. Flexible Power Systems (FPS), a UK based
software company, will extend their e-fleet and charger management platform (FPS Operate) to incorporate emerging safety, smart city and grid energy optimisation services.
This MoU solidifies the partnership’s commitment to integrating cutting-edge South Korean technologies into the UK market. It demonstrates FPS’s focus on developing export opportunities for their platforms and enables Cenex to understand and inform fleets and cities of the benefits of data co-operation. The collaboration will not only benefit fleets in the UK but will also create opportunities to engage with Korean customers and explore the potential for joint development and
commercialisation of these technologies in South Korea.
Steve Carroll, Cenex’s Head of Research
The UK and South Korean project partners will combine technology developments and plan a demonstration project to prove the expected benefits of the products. Benefits include optimised fleet operations whilst enabling cities to access data generated through logistics to improve city life. Practical examples of this are enabling data from vehicles to advise a city on road areas and junctions prone to risky driving behaviour, collisions and even the presence and severity of potholes. This enables cities to use to enhance decision-making, citizen engagement, safety, and sustainability.
and Technical Services said: “We are delighted to be working on this project examining how to improve data driven insights to optimise fleet management insights as well as enabling on- vehicle generated data to be used more widely by cities to improve services and city life.” Michael Ayres, managing director of FPS, said: “Extending our Operate platforms functionality into smart city, smart grid and safety analytics use cases is a natural next step for us in offering fleets an end-to-end e-fleet and charger management solution. This co-operation with Cenex and our Korean partners offers opportunities to both access technology and new market opportunities.”
M Group Services completes deal to acquire BGEN Ltd M
Group Services has completed the acquisition of BGEN Ltd and its subsidiaries (‘BGEN’), one of the UK’s largest independent technical engineering solutions businesses with a strong position in regulated end markets including power & energy, water, pharmaceutical and industrial sectors.
BGEN is a leading technical engineering solutions provider offering specialist Mechanical, Electrical, Instrumentation, Control and Automation (MEICA) capabilities. These capabilities support clients in building new assets and to optimise existing assets, which play a crucial role in reducing carbon footprints to meet net-zero targets.
This latest acquisition will enable M Group
Services to rapidly advance its highly sought-after technical engineering solutions, offering in its existing core markets in the energy, water, telecom and transport sectors. As well as this, expanding into new markets served by BGEN and further enhances M Group Services’ comprehensive platform of value-added infrastructure services expertise. Through its nationwide network of offices and almost 1,500 employees, BGEN provides its multidisciplinary offering to a range of clients including National Grid, Thames Water, Scottish Water and Anglian Water, which also have long-term partnerships with M Group Services.
M Group Services is committed to investing in BGEN, focusing on the growth and development of its workforce, training programs and skill enhancement to further expand its platform capabilities. Andrew Findlay, M Group Services’ chief executive, said: “BGEN is a business with a long trading heritage and an excellent reputation and culture that aligns with our own. “In line with our strategy, the acquisition of BGEN significantly enhances the technical engineering capability of M Group Services, significantly deepening our ability to provide expert solutions for our existing clients and broad range of new clients, for today and in the future.
6 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • NOVEMBER 2024
Together we are even better placed to support the energy transition to net zero, leading the way in maintaining and enhancing essential infrastructure that is continually adapting to a rapidly changing world. I am very pleased to welcome the BGEN team to the M Group Services family.” Robin Whitehead, chief executive of BGEN,
said: “Joining M Group Services represents the most significant step in our trading history to date and an exciting opportunity for our people, clients and partners alike.
“Our focus remains on bringing excellence to engineering, helping to keep businesses, industries and economies moving forward with a safety-first approach.
Our joint expertise will provide a wealth of specialist engineering services across multiple sectors, help us to deliver even more effectively for our clients and achieve our own growth ambitions.”
Dominic Murphy, managing partner and
Co-Head of the UK team at CVC, private equity owners of M Group Services, said: “We are delighted the M Group Services team has secured this transformational deal with BGEN as part of its ambitious growth strategy. It is the first since CVC completed the transaction to buy M Group Services, earlier this year.”
BGEN is the second acquisition made by M Group Services this year.
electricalengieneeringmagazine.co.uk
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