Automate UK’s Machinery Update editor retires after 13 years

Machinery Update (MU) editor Gail Hunt steps down after 13 years to work on new projects for Automate UK.

Gail’s first assignment will be working with the steering group for the new UK Automation Forum which is due to launch in the coming months. This will initially involve online round table events that will include a panel of experts discussing pertinent issues regarding automation adoption across the UK.

Gail hands the MU editor baton to Paul Gander, who brings a wealth of packaging experience to the Automate UK team having initially started his technical journalistic career at Packaging News. Since then, he has edited international food industry publications in areas such as confectionery, written a decade’s-worth of news, features and commented for Food Manufacture magazine – much of it equipment-related – but also focused on packaging systems.

Gail said “I first wrote for Machinery Update in a freelance capacity back in the second half of the 1990s, when Mike Maddox was editor, and so I have a long acquaintance with the magazine. I also worked with Paul on Packaging News back in the day, which is why I am confident he will bring a fresh, new approach to the issues facing the manufacturing industry today. I would also like to take the opportunity to thank the Automate UK team at Wallington for all their support during my 13 years on the magazine, and of course, our members, who I have thoroughly enjoyed meeting and writing about,” she continued. “I have been very proud to head this magazine and hope I have managed to write about all things machinery with an intelligent twist.”

While covering the Automate UK launch at Charterhouse, Gail was presented with a framed copy of her first Machinery Update front cover, signed by guest speakers Alastair Campbell, Damon Hill, and Aasmah Mir.

Paul Gander will be aiming to develop the manufacturing content of Machinery Update further across other sectors, ranging from pharmaceuticals to health and beauty. Paul said, “Over many years now, Gail has set the editorial bar on Machinery Update extremely high. It’s an exciting time for Automate UK, and I’m thrilled to be coming on board at such an important moment in the association’s evolution.”

Paul can be contacted at paul.gander@automate-uk.com

To see the latest copies of machinery update visit Automate UK Publications