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Sheffield Forgemasters makes £6.5m technology-driven upgrade

Engineering specialist Sheffield Forgemasters is investing £6.5m in machinery upgrades to expand its output capacity, in a move partly-funded by Sheffield City Region’s Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP).

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

The majority of Foremasters’ £6.5m investment will be from its own development budget, but having pledged such high levels of capital, the company was able to access £650k worth of funding from the LEP’s Business Investment Fund - a grant which makes up ten per cent of overall project value.

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.”

Sir Nigel Knowles, chair at the LEP, added: “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 fore-front 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.”

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