Steelworks granted permission for new facility

A major steel producer has been granted permission to build a new plant which would include the country's largest machining hall.

Engineering specialists Sheffield Forgemasters will use the facility near Meadowhall to support manufacturing for defence programmes.

The Ministry of Defence bought the company in 2021, and the 16-acre site on Weedon Street will be operational by 2028.

Forgemasters programmes director Craig Fisher said it "signals an amazing investment for the city and for the wider UK".

Work is already underway to prepare the site, which will contain some of the largest and most advanced equipment ever produced for machining.

The main building will be 32m tall and cover a space equal to 12 Olympic swimming pools, which Mr Fisher called "an iconic landmark".

A second, smaller building will house a facility for testing products and a dedicated training area for new engineers.

Mr Fisher added that the new development would "create highly-skilled engineering jobs for decades to come".

"This planning agreement will see construction of the largest machining hall of its kind in the UK, and regeneration of a prominent brownfield site in the city's industrial centre," he said.

"What we are creating in the centre of Britain's historical industrial heartland is unparalleled in the UK and will not only de-risk supply for the UK's defence programme, but it will also deliver technologically advanced and rewarding working facilities for our employees."

Forgemasters has the capability to produce some of the largest bespoke engineered steel products in the world, with the capacity for castings weighing up to 350 tonnes, and the capacity for forgings weighing up to 200 tonnes.

The new plant will be able to produce complex nuclear-grade components more efficiently.

Construction of another new facility for forging is also underway on Brightside Lane.

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