Sheffield Forgemasters proposals for the construction of a building to house the UK’s largest open-die forging press have been approved by Sheffield City Council.
The move is part of a recapitalisation programme by the engineering firm’s owner, the Ministry of Defence, which will see up to £400m invested in the site over 10 years to upgrade the company’s defence-critical assets.
The 136,700 sq ft development will sit adjacent to an existing forge building on Brightside Lane and will include offices and a water pumping station, alongside a 13,000 tonne press which will replace the existing 10,000 tonne press.
The new press was shipped from Japan in early 2022 and is being held in storage. The upgraded facility is scheduled to be operational by 2025.
Sheffield Forgemasters chief operating officer Gareth Barker said: “The new facility will significantly improve our throughput of large, complex forgings and will enable us to push the envelope in terms of forging techniques and processes, as well as improving accuracy and reducing downtime.”
Sheffield Forgemasters’ project team includes JLL, AEW Architects and Tetra Tech.
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