Hundreds of people flocked to a global machine tool manufacturer's annual open house in Worcester.

Yamazaki Mazak's event, 'Building For Your Future,' drew crowds due to recent investments in its UK manufacturing that have significantly shortened lead times on key machines.

Over the event's four days, more than 700 visitors attended, many of which were making their initial visit to Mazak.

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Jason Butler, sales director for Yamazaki Mazak UK said: "We had a packed European Technology Centre over each of the days with plenty of potential new customers visiting us for the first time.

"That says to me our message of continued investment in Worcester, which has led to increased production capacity and very short lead times on key machines, is getting through and really resonating with UK manufacturers."

Visitors to the annual event could view machines in the European Technology Centre, discuss their specific machining challenges with applications engineers, and access a range of finance packages and options in just one visit.

Worcester News: Over 700 visitors attended the event, which saw 18 different machines on display, including several

Mr Butler continued: "We wanted to provide a very sales-focused one-stop solution for visitors to enable them to access competitively priced Mazak machines quickly and easily.

"The ability to sit down with our preferred finance partner, Finance for Industry, was crucial and we've seen strong take-up of creative finance options, such as payment holidays and low-start finance."

The company unveiled 18 different machines during the open house, including vertical machining centers, five-axis machines, models from its INTEGREX Multi-Tasking range, turning centers, and laser cutting machines.

The manufacturer also showcased its new iCONNECT package.

Alan Mucklow, managing director of the UK and Ireland sales and service division at the company, believes the successful event is a signifier of the UK manufacturing industry's positive momentum looking forward to 2024.

"There's been a very positive outlook during the week from all visitors, with a sense of confidence returning to the market.

"The government’s recent announcement of a permanent extension to fully expensing capital investment against corporation tax was very welcome and demonstrated a real understanding of the importance of manufacturing to the UK economy.

"We've seen that confidence this week in Worcester and we're excited about 2024."