Vince Cable hails Rolls Royce commitment to AMP

BUSINESS Secretary Vince Cable cut the first sod as work on Rolls Royce’s new Rotherham factory got off the ground yesterday.

The Advanced Blade Casting Facility will bring an extra 150 jobs to the Advanced Manufacturing Park at Catcliffe.

The 14,000 sq metre centre will create turbine blade castings for the firm’s large civil Trent aircraft.

Each blade will be cast to form a single crystal of super alloy, making it strong enough to resist the intense heat inside a jet engine—more than 1,900 deg C.

Mr Cable said: “Today is further evidence of Rolls-Royce’s strong commitment to the UK and the strength of advanced manufacturing we have in this country.

“This new facility is good news not just for Rolls-Royce and the local area but for our aerospace sector and the wider economy too.

“It provides a good example of business and Government working together to deliver growth.”

Mike Mosley, executive vice president of Rolls-Royce Turbines, said: “We invest in world class technology and infrastructure to expand the scale and efficiency of our operations and to deliver our promises to our customers.

“In the last five years we have invested over £950 million on infrastructure in the UK alone.

“The ABCF will use cutting edge manufacturing techniques to produce single crystal turbine blades, which play a critical role in jet engines and must withstand incredibly harsh conditions.”

The first blades will be produced in late 2014, with the centre capable of manufacturing 100,000 a year when fully operational.

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