Sheffield Forgemasters will seek alternative finance for giant forging press project

Move follows coalition government’s decision to axe £80 million loan

Heavy engineering firm Sheffield Forgemasters has confirmed it will seek other sources of finance to resurrect a project to install a giant forging press following the coalition government’s decision to axe an £80 million loan promised by Labour.

The company said the decision not to grant the loan to Forgemasters, which would have enabled it to install a 15,000 tonne press for manufacturing ultra-large components for the nuclear industry, would not affect its day-to-day operations but that it would attempt to secure other funding for the project.

Graham Honeyman, chief executive at Sheffield Forgemasters, said in a statement: “Our board of directors will continue to engage constructively with strategic corporate investors as well as private finance providers to explore other funding options for the 15,000 tonne press project and the government’s offer to work with the company on this is welcomed.”

The press would have put Forgemasters among a select group of manufacturing firms globally capable of supplying the largest components for new nuclear reactors at a time when the industry is enjoying a global renaissance. Forgemasters and trade unions have said the project would create hundreds of jobs and enable the British manufacturing supply chain to capitalise on nuclear new build. Westinghouse, one of the companies bidding to build new reactors in the UK, had backed the project with tens of millions, but the cancellation of the £80 million government loan promised by Lord Mandelson earlier this year has forced Sheffield Forgemasters into a rethink. 

Honeyman added: “The company’s proposed business expansion plan to install a 15,000 tonne press still offers a real opportunity for the company to create new jobs in Sheffield and in the subsequent supply chain and to give a major boost to UK manufacturing industry on a global level. We have no intention of standing still and will continue to explore all avenues for business development.”