Expansion plans and hundreds of jobs herald new era for Sheffield steel
BAE Systems is looking to give more business to local firms, hailing their “wealth and breadth of skills”
Hundreds of jobs are being created in Sheffield as the city’s unique steel heritage enters a new era.
Expansion plans are underway as companies adapt to meet demand from the defence industry in an increasingly dangerous world.
More than 800 people are working on a £1.3bn expansion at Sheffield Forgemasters, the biggest in its 250-year history.
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The country’s biggest defence company, BAE Systems, has a new artillery factory in the city and is actively looking to give more business to local firms, hailing their “wealth and breadth of skills.”
Sheffield firms including Independent Forgings and Alloys and Special Melted Products are also expanding and creating scores of jobs.
It comes as defence secretary Dan Jarvis said the £298bn Defence Investment Plan was set to create 60,000 jobs nationally over the next four years.
On a visit to Forgemasters he said the nation faced “very significant threats from a range of different hostile states and from other actors.”
He added: “This government will always make sure we’ve got the right support and the right defences to keep our people and our infrastructure as resilient and as safe as we can.
“I am very proud of the work that happens at Sheffield Forgemasters, it is important for our national security, it’s very good for our economic prosperity and the support for Ukraine will make a material difference in their fight against Russia.”
Forgemasters is making 150 artillery barrels through a £61m contract to BAE Systems, supporting hundreds of jobs.
Nationalised in 2021, Forgemasters is fully-owned by the Ministry of Defence. The MoD bought the firm due to workers’ specialist knowledge and is building new facilities around them.
BAE Systems said it chose Sheffield due to its wealth and breadth of skills and advanced manufacturing expertise.
Employing 100 at a factory on Bessemer Park near Meadowhall, it hopes to take on a new building to modify Chevrolet vehicles for the army, which is replacing thousands of Land Rovers.
Special Melted Products, on President Way, Grimesthorpe, is set to become home to one of the UK’s most speciality metals facilities as part of Project Vulcan, an investment of “well over £50m,” set to create 168 new jobs by 2030.
The firm is installing a new forge which it says will secure domestic supply of materials for the aerospace, defence and energy sectors, create highly skilled jobs, and “reinforce Sheffield's position at the forefront of advanced manufacturing.”
Independent Forgings and Alloys has plans for 12 new buildings in a multi-million pound expansion set to create 172 jobs and double capacity at its site on Livesey Street, Owlerton.
The business has submitted a planning application for a ring forge, 3,000 tonne press forge bay, machine shop and several warehouses.