PM finds winning formula at Forgemasters
PRIME Minister Gordon Brown has made a special visit to Sheffield Forgemasters to recognise the company’s success in training apprentices and international trade development and to find out more about its future investment programme.
Mr Brown met with directors at the 200-year-old engineering company to see at first hand Forgemasters’ multi-million pound expansion plans.
The Prime Minister then toured the 64-acre site to see the state-of-the-art production processes which have helped keep Forgemasters at the forefront of global engineering for the power generation and offshore industries.
Graham Honeyman, chief executive of Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “Mr Brown’s tour of the site allowed him to see the scale of what we are doing here and he met numerous apprentices, which is obviously a very important element of British manufacturing and one that will help secure the UK’s future skills base.”
The Prime Minister spoke to apprentices and management throughout the tour to gain an in-depth understanding of the company’s business strategy and turnaround following a management buyout in 2005.
The company is currently looking at funding streams for a 15,000 tonne open-die forging press which would enable it to produce 100% of the forgings required for the UK’s own nuclear power programme and also tap into global demand for these large components.
Mr Brown said: “Here in Sheffield we have got high quality steel and investment that has taken place for the future.
“We want to be able to support a company which is dynamic, moving forward, and one of our biggest export companies.
“Of course there is a future for steel in Sheffield. We are determined to do what we can to support the people here who brought this industry back.”
Forgemasters is currently winning global civil nuclear power contracts in countries including China, America, Canada and Argentina.
Following the management buyout in 2005, which effectively saved the company from collapse, Sheffield Forgemasters now has a turnover of more than £114m and an order book of £153m.
Exports account for 80% of its business and it now employs 809 staff.
