South Yorkshire is forging re-industrialisation of Britain, says Chancellor John Healey
South Yorkshire is poised to be at the heart of Britain's drive for reindustrialisation, the Chancellor John Healey told a business audience.
Mr Healey made the comments as he visited AESSEAL in Rotherham, to help the company launch a new environmental innovation.
During a speech to staff and business leaders, Mr Healey said his Budget had backed British industry, so manufacturing firms like AESSEAL can compete, grow and create jobs.
He also praised AESSEAL’s record in hiring 327 apprentices since 2018 and highlighted his commitment to invest £100m in local apprenticeship services at the Budget.
A spokesman said that every year, more than double the gas disrupted by the closure of the Strait of Hormuz is burned off and wasted at oil and gas facilities around the world. North Sea operators alone flared enough gas in 2024 to heat half a million UK homes, the spokesman added.
The spokesman said AESSEAL has developed EcoGuard, a sealing system that captures the gas instead of burning it off, so it can be returned to the system.
Chris Rea, the founder and managing director of the AES Engineering Group of companies, who formed AESSEAL in 1979, said: “I sit on the board of MakeUK (the manufacturers’ organisation) and the number one issue for manufacturers is the cost of energy.”
Mr Healey told the audience: “This is one of those rare companies which sets its own standards, which accepts no limits and knows that it can crack any challenge… with that combination of innovation, investment and really top class technical skills.
"Whether it’s the use of advanced computing, of robotics, now AI, or whether it’s the 1k tree walk, nature trail, that Chris has put in place on-site here for local school kids; this is a company that is always first and is always best.
"I can’t tell you how proud I am as the local MP of this company. For three out of the last four years this has been the UK’s top apprentice employer in manufacturing. This company has 16 Queens and King’s Awards for industry.
"This is a global, market leading business that flies the flag for British manufacturing around the world and still with more than half of its assets and new investment here in Rotherham.
"We’re standing in this factory for the future that Chris and AESSEAL have created. But we’re also on the site of the old Rother iron works,’’ Mr Healey added. “The works that in the 1800s forged the railway axles and exported them around the world and Britain has always done best when we’ve designed and made the things the rest of the world wants.
"We’re the most innovative nation in Europe. Just as Britain led the world in that era of railways, I believe AESSEAL is showing how we can and are again leading in this new era of robotics, advanced manufacturing and AI.
“Just as South Yorkshire helped build the past industrial strength of Britain so again today we’re helping forge the modern re-industrialisation of Britain.”