NG Bailey wins £4.3m factory contract

The Ilkley-based IT and facilities services specialists will deliver all the mechanical and electrical design and installation work for the University of Sheffield’s £43m Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) Factory 2050.

Working alongside international support services and construction group Interserve, which is the project’s main contractor, NG Bailey will help to create a world-class centre of engineering excellence built to BREEAM “Excellent” environmental standards.

NG Bailey’s work will include the installation of a large ground-source heat pump package, which eliminates the need for a boiler or chiller plant.

It is the first facility to be created on the site of the former Sheffield airport. Work will begin on the site in early 2015, and should be completed by October 2015.

Andy Morley, operations director for NG Bailey’s engineering division, said: “As a company with strong roots in engineering, we are delighted that our work will support the engineers at this facility in taking forward their own global reputation for manufacturing research into an exciting new era.”

The AMRC Factory 2050 will cover an area of around 4,500 sqm, and will be largely built from glass. The creation of the new facility is being supported by a £10m grant from the Research Partnership Investment Fund, managed by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE). Manufacturers including Boeing, Airbus, Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems and Spirit AeroSystems are also supporting the project.

Professor Keith Ridgway, executive dean of the University of Sheffield AMRC, said: “This will be the most advanced factory in the world. It will give us a home for the research and demonstration work associated with building the next generation of aircraft and energy technologies. The aim is to be able to manufacture any component as a one-off, and instantaneously switch between components.”