Ford advertisement features Yorkshire manufacturing giant

Sheffield Forgemasters’ arc furnace is the centrepiece for US automotive giant Ford’s latest advert which was filmed on site.

Shot over the course of a day, the advert follows Forgemasters’ steel melting process. Raw metal is converted into high-grade steel through its 90-tonne electric arc furnace.

It is the first time a large scale commercial has ever been filmed at Sheffield Forgemasters.

The company waived its location fee, instead giving the money to local charity Weston Park Hospital Cancer Charity in memory of one of former employee Nigel Hobson, who sadly passed away earlier in the year after retiring from Forgemasters in July 2018.

Brendan Kendrick, sales and marketing director at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “We receive numerous requests to film at our plant because there is simply no other facility like it within the UK, but the logistics of facilitating a film shoot mean that we agree to relatively few.

“We could see the importance of an association with a company like Ford and put measures in place to help them secure some spectacular footage, which places the latest Transit right in the centre of fast-paced melt shop activity with molten steel being created, something that has never been done before.”

“The production team secured, what for them, has been some of the best footage they have gleaned in years of film making. The plant is incredibly spectacular and we were delighted that everyone worked so hard to make this happen.

“We are also delighted that the agreed location fee has been put towards such a meaningful local and charitable cause.”

The advert is now being shown in the UK and shows the latest Transit and other commercial vehicles.