Leading Japan manufacturer adds to park's prestige

Now the Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) is home to world-class engineers who are helping to make Britain's aero-engine industry more competitive.

The AMP stands close to the site of the Orgreave Coking Plant. In June 1984, the plant was the scene of violence during the bitter miners' strike.

It's a calmer place today. Yesterday, Japanese-based Mori Seiki, one of the world's leading manufacturers of metal cutting machines, revealed that it had opened an office at the AMP, near Rotherham in South Yorkshire.

The facility next to the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing will provide a base from which Mori Seiki can support the Strategic Affordable Manufacturing in the UK with Leading Environmental Technology (SAMULET) project.

The aim of SAMULET, which is a project being led by Rolls-Royce with support from industry and academia, is to ensure that the United Kingdom aero-engine industry remains competitive in the face of new 2020 emission tar-gets.

A spokesman for the AMP said the development would create five jobs initially, with the potential for more.

The spokesman said it could also help to create jobs in neighbouring firms.

The spokesman added: "We are talking to investors about other developments in the park, and may have further announcements in the New Year."

Altogether, around 400 people work on the AMP, which will celebrate its 10th anniversary next year.