Sheffield set for £90m glass research site

Sheffield-based trade body the British Glass Manufacturers’ Confederation, which is leading the British Glass Innovation Centre, said the project could create “hundreds of jobs”.

It comes after the Government and international engineering giant Siemens committed millions in funding to help upskill the UK’s glass sector.

British Glass said I hopes to return the region to its position as a world-leading centre for research and development.

The project will enable British Glass to dramatically extend its facilities, which will include ‘mini’ production plants for experimentation and training, as well as conferencing and educational facilities.

Dave Dalton, chief executive at British Glass, told The Yorkshire Post the project is about building capabilities “across the spectrum” of the industry.

He said: “The project is about upskilling UK Manufacturing plc. In order to become competitive again, we need to develop manufacturing and engineering skills.”

Mr Dalton said Sheffield has a long history of industry training, including a strong heritage of glass manufacturing at university level. “We want to reinvent that,” he said.

Last week, Siemens confirmed it had committed £4m funding to the UK glass sector after working with British Glass.

Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg previously announced £5m funding for the British Glass Innovation Centre as part of the Sheffield City Regional Growth Deal.

On a recent visit, he said: “After securing investment down in Westminster, it’s hugely satisfying to come back to Sheffield and see shovels starting to go in the ground.

“Our advanced manufacturing hub is fast becoming the envy of the world and this world class development will only enhance our reputation even further. This can only mean even more investment and jobs for local people.”

The centre will be located on Sheffield Business Park Phase 2, close to University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC).

Glass is “the material of the future”, Mr Dalton said.

“If you think about the future, glass is everywhere,” he said.

Currently, the UK has limited capability to create large-scale sheet glass suitable for construction, requiring projects to import materials.

Mr Dalton said: “The project engineers and the architects are from the UK, but we bring the glass in from elsewhere.

“If we’re going to put down the Northern legacy everyone is talking about, we want the capability to produce large glass sheets.”

The initial £25m project, which will create four “pods” for research and development facilities, is already financially committed on paper, Mr Dalton said.

It will be home to one of the few pilot scale, free-running furnaces available worldwide, which will allow businesses to development techniques and processes without impacting productivity at their own sites.

Around 30 jobs will be created directly once the first part of the project is complete. It will then be extended to include conferencing and education facilities.

Mr Dalton said he hopes there will be strong second-tier job creation as the industry develops.

“It possibly could be many hundreds,” he said.

Stakeholders, not shareholders

Members of the British Glass Manufacturers Confederation will not be expected to commit to heavy financial investment in the Innovation Centre project.

British Glass chief executive Mr Dalton said funding from Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), central Government and partners like Siemens will provide significant funds.

While British Glass members, such as Sheffield’s Beatson Clark, will contribute, Mr Dalton said they do not want to commit “a large amount of their own money” to the facilities.

“There is a very big difference between stakeholders and shareholders,” Mr Dalton said.

“Members are very supportive of the centre and will be contributing.

“They will be contributing some finance, and some time and effort.”

There will be “a lot of sharing of expertise and capabilities”, he added.

All members will be able to access the centre’s facilities, but regionally based manufacturers will be able to access it “very readily”.

Collaboration will be a big part of the centre, he added.

“For container production, this will bring commercial rivals together to help glass rival materials such as plastic,” he said.