Forgemasters tops £6.5m investment plans with LEP funding

Sheffield Forgemasters has secured further funding towards a £6.5m investment in machinery to grow its advanced manufacturing credentials.

Sheffield City Region’s Local Enterprise Partnership has committed to investing £650,000 from its £52m Business Investment Fund to top off the funding.

Forgemasters has funded the rest of the investment from its own development budget, and the company qualified for the LEP Business Investment Fund grant which makes up 10% of the overall project value.

Forgemasters will invest in new machinery at its Brightside Lane machine shops to grow its advanced manufacturing capabilities.

It will install two new machines; a milling machine and a vertical turning lathe to enable the machining of increasingly complicated, ultra-large cast and forged shapes for industries such as civil nuclear power and defence.

Sir Nigel Knowles, chairman at the Sheffield LEP, said: “We are working on a number of technology-driven initiatives and the Business Investment Fund was set up to help companies, such as Sheffield Forgemasters and also smaller enterprises to achieve growth.

“It is no secret that Forgemasters sits at the forefront of technological developments within the field of large-scale engineering and this grant will help the business to advance its capabilities even further, placing Sheffield City Region at the leading edge of manufacture into civil nuclear, defence, power generation and innovative projects such as the proposed Swansea Bay tidal lagoon.”

James Tate, chief finance officer at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “We are delighted that the Sheffield City Region LEP has granted this funding towards what is a milestone investment for the company and one which will create greater efficiencies for future projects as well as allowing for further advanced machining techniques.

“The company has placed inward investment high on its list of priorities since the management buyout in 2005 and we still invest significantly more in research and development as a percentage of turnover than most UK manufacturers.

“There is no doubt that Sheffield is a centre of excellence for advanced manufacturing and this investment will help us to deliver an increasing volume of milling and turning work for defence and power generation contracts using internal facilities to maintain high tolerances and manufacturing standards.”

Sheffield City Region is made up of the nine local authority areas of Barnsley, Bassetlaw, Bolsover, Chesterfield, Derbyshire Dales, Doncaster, North East Derbyshire, Rotherham and Sheffield.

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