New UK campus planned for major Rolls-Royce collaboration with Qatar
Derby-based engine maker Rolls-Royce has launched a long-term partnership with Qatar to invest billions in green engineering projects to help entrepreneurs find new ways to achieve net zero.
The deal will include creating about 1,000 jobs at two campuses – one in northern England and one in Qatar – where climate technology businesses will be created, launched and developed.
It is hoped a further 10,000 roles will be created at the businesses launched at the campuses and in the wider clean-tech economy.
The aim is for five unicorn companies to be created at the centres by 2030, rising to 20 by 2040.
The exact location for the UK campus has yet to be decided. Rolls-Royce already has several sites and suppliers based in northern England and is one of the industrial members of the The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) in South Yorkshire, which is managed by the University of Sheffield.
The Qatar Foundation, the state’s non-profit organisation created in 1995 to concentrate on education and research, will provide funding to develop the campuses and support their operations for two decades.
Rolls-Royce will deploy its expertise in engineering and high-end manufacturing, and will use the centre to develop emerging climate technologies.
Start-up businesses will get academic help and funding for research and development on campus, combined with early-stage venture capital investment, so they can test and scale-up their technologies.
Rolls-Royce already had an established relationship with the state-owned Qatar Airways, which is one of the firm’s biggest customers for its Trent jet engines.
