Gerbig Engineering Company, a designer, fabricator and installer of modular cleanrooms, has completed a move to a new location with increased square footage in Burnsville, Minnesota.

The new location provides expanded production, warehouse and office areas. A laboratory area for cleanroom environmental monitoring and room for a future cleanroom products testing lab are also included in the space.

The attempt by Air Products to acquire Airgas has taken some twists and turns this week.

The week began with Airgas resoundingly rejecting a revised offer from Air Products to purchase the remaining Airgas shares that it does not already own, referring to the offer of $65.50 per share in cash as “grossly inadequate”. Air Products then accused Air Gas of ‘value destructive tactics’.

Around 2,500 jobs have been saved at troubled UK social housing group Connaught, after specialist construction group Morgan Sindall acquired the majority of its assets and contracts.

Connaught, which carries out essential maintenance and repairs to homes, called in administrators to its main social housing unit after government cuts caused contract deferrals, leading to financial difficulties.

Administrator KPMG had warned of potential redundancies among Connaught's 10,000 staff.

Around 2,500 jobs have been saved at troubled UK social housing group Connaught, after specialist construction group Morgan Sindall acquired the majority of its assets and contracts.

Connaught, which carries out essential maintenance and repairs to homes, called in administrators to its main social housing unit after government cuts caused contract deferrals, leading to financial difficulties.

Administrator KPMG had warned of potential redundancies among Connaught's 10,000 staff.

The US trade deficit narrowed more than expected in July, as imports fell and exports climbed to their highest level in almost two years, according to Commerce Department figures released today.

The deficit in international trade of goods and services narrowed by 14 percent to $42.78 billion, from $49.76 billion in June, with imports down by 2.1 percent to $196.11 billion from $200.33 billion in June. Exports rose 1.8 percent to $153.3 billion, their highest since August 2008, and up from $150.57 billion in June.

Virgin Money has created 200 jobs in Edinburgh as part of its strategy to firm up its foothold in the UK banking sector.

The financial arm of Richard Branson’s Virgin Group is giving a much-needed boost to the Scottish capital, which has suffered from large-scale job cuts.

Virgin Money said the new jobs would bring its total workforce to 500.

The group is now looking for city-centre premises for a new operations office, with staff recruitment expected to begin early next year, ahead of the spring launch date set for Virgin Bank.

Sunterra Meats produces pork and other meat products for markets as far flung as Australia and Japan, where standards for quality and food safety are as demanding as anywhere in the world. Keith Regan learns how the company focuses on delivering quality from farm gate to dinner plate.

Rising gold prices have seen a global surge in gold mining operations. Todd Roth at Sumitomo Metal Mining tells Andrew Pelis how Japanese experience has been applied to North American reserves.

Alaska’s remote wilderness may seem an unlikely setting for Japanese prosperity, yet beneath the hills and valleys lies that most precious of commodities: gold.

With the principles of lean manufacturing guiding the way, Aesculap, Inc. has dramatically improved its ability to see how its business operations are performing in real time, with an eye toward reducing its reliance on costly and inefficient inventory stockpiles. Keith Regan learns how the provider of surgical kits and related medical equipment has achieved a first milestone on a long journey to excellence.

Consolidated Thompson Mines is leveraging an experienced team, state-of-the-art technology and the quality of its in-the-ground resource on the global market to engineer significant growth in the near future, as Keith Regan finds out.