On October 29 to 30, over 9,000 engineering and manufacturing professionals came together at the NEC, Birmingham, for the 16th edition of Advanced Engineering. The newly revitalised Composites Zone stood out as one of the successes of this year’s show, solidifying the event as the UK’s leading meeting place for the composites industry.
This year, Advanced Engineering’s partnership with Composites UK strengthened, whose increased involvement helped to revamp the Composites Zone for 2025. The organisation curated the full two-day Composites Forum agenda, focusing on sustainability, material circularity, next-generation product development and the future of composite manufacturing.
Day one also featured The UK Composites Industry in Numbers, a well-attended session delivered by Dr David Bailey, CEO of Composites UK. He presented the 2024 data outlining the size and makeup of the UK composites industry, announcing that the sector has now broken through the £14 billion revenue barrier and employs more than 52,000 high-value workers in the UK.
“We believe this is the best place for our members to do composites business in the UK,” said David. “We’re very excited to have brought 18 companies to exhibit with us at the Advanced Engineering show and, in fact, it’s been hard to speak to our members at the show because they’ve all been busy doing business. It’s been an excellent show.”
The Composites Networking Lounge, sponsored by PRF Composites, also returned in its upgraded 2025 format and quickly became one of the most active hubs at the show. The space hosted steady streams of meetings, introductions and impromptu technical discussions, bringing together suppliers, engineers and OEMs across the supply chain.
PRF’s presence also carried through to the demonstrations, with visitors able to see its advanced prepreg system in action, including the rapid 4-minute RP570 heated press cycle, the 5-minute fire-retardant RP570 FR, and the RP570 FR paired with its REEPREG recycled carbon prepreg nonwoven.
“We’ve been run off our feet this year, especially having been really active in the Composite Networking Lounge, hosting networking sessions, meet-the-speaker events and live demonstrations,” said Hannah Khusainova, Marketing Director at PRF Composite Materials. “We’ve actually been hot pressing live on the show floor, I think it might be the first time composite processing has been done live at Advanced Engineering. The response has been incredible.”
These live demonstrations kept crowds engaged throughout both days. Alan Harper Composites delivered hands-on sessions showcasing real-world techniques and practical processes. Reflecting on the show’s value, owner Alan Harper said, “Collaboration only happens when you truly understand what the industry needs. Events like this give us direct access to the conversations that matter, we hear what people are really looking for.
“We’ve had far more visitors than expected. If you ask me how the show has been, I’d say brilliant, absolutely brilliant. It’s delivered more value than some of the larger international shows we’ve invested in, at a fraction of the cost. For us, the return has been exceptional.”
2025 also saw the introduction of the Composites Village, a dedicated area spotlighting start-ups and smaller businesses. The new feature gave early-stage companies a platform to showcase their technologies, build visibility and connect with established players.
Alongside this, the co-located Composites UK Industry Awards Dinner, held on October 29 at the National Motorcycle Museum, once again brought the sector together in celebration of innovation, excellence and collaboration.
“From Advanced Engineering this year, I saw more progress in the supply chain for bio-derived and sustainable materials, as well as continued advancements in additive manufacturing,” added Stephen Brown at Scott Bader. “Those would be my three big takeaways from the show, along with the fact that you don’t need to sacrifice performance to achieve sustainability. That’s a key message I hope people left with.”
Commercial activity across the Composites Zone remained strong throughout the event too, including a deal took place on the show floor with Zünd, a long-standing supplier to sectors such as aerospace, motorsport, renewable energy and defence.
This year’s achievements reaffirm Advanced Engineering’s growing role as the UK’s annual gathering point for the composites community, a place where industry connects. Therefore, the Composites Zone will continue to expand in 2026, with even more features planned to support the sector’s fast-paced development.
Advanced Engineering 2026 is returning to the NEC on November 4 and 5, 2026, and for the first time will be co-located with UK Metals Expo, providing more opportunities for cross-sector collaboration and networking.
You can book your stand for next year’s show via advancedengineeringuk.com.
