Jobs boom as Sheffield steel firms surge

Sheffield's metals sector is having a good year, with firms advertising multiple jobs, strong orders and investments.
A grinder at the William Cook Precision Foundry in Sheffield. Picture: Chris Etchells.A grinder at the William Cook Precision Foundry in Sheffield. Picture: Chris Etchells.
A grinder at the William Cook Precision Foundry in Sheffield. Picture: Chris Etchells.

William Cook Cast Products wants foundry workers at its Sheffield plant on Parkway Avenue and has vacancies for ‘all shop floor skills’ including melting, moulding, NDT, welding, fettling, mark-out and pattern stores.

Meanwhile Tecomet, which makes medical equipment and aerospace parts is recruiting ‘as they continue to have a fantastic start to 2018.’

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The company based on Beulah Road, Hillsborough, has live vacancies for dressers - forged based, dresser team leaders - forge based, drop stamper - heavy forge/furnace based, polisher/glazers - tight tolerances using belts, mops, wheels and CNC millers.

Forgemasters is advertising 14 vacancies including maintenance fitter, machinist, electric engineer, fettler, development engineer and cylindrical roll grinder.

Only this week it announced its strongest order book for five years, with £118m of work in the pipeline.

Last month, Independent Forgings and Alloys of Hillsborough received £8.5m from an investment company to boost production of rings and bars for the aerospace, nuclear, power generation, marine and oil and gas sectors.

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It struck a deal with BGF, an ‘active and influential investor’ which makes long-term equity investments in return for a minority stake.

The deal was another sign of strength in the sector. It came six months after Abbey Forgings in Wadsley Bridge won permission for a £14m forge set to create 55 jobs.

n William Cook unveiled a £6m ‘Precision Foundry’ featuring the latest 3D printing technology in March last year. The investment safeguarded 200 manufacturing jobs and set the firm up for growth, bosses said.

The equipment can produce complex wax patterns in one tenth of the time, for one tenth of the cost and with one tenth of the material compared to machining a shape from metal.