Siemens Invests a Further £1 Million in UK Mechanical Drives

• Siemens invests in rail servicing and efficient geared motors at the Leeds site
• Investment represents further commitment from Siemens to UK manufacturing

Siemens is investing an additional £1 million in its Mechanical Drives factory at Leeds, to expand its capabilities in servicing rail components and in assembling a new range of geared motors.

The investment is an increase in Siemens’ commitment to UK manufacturing and servicing and comes not long after Siemens announced the new factory planned for Hull that will specialise in wind turbine assembly. 

The Leeds investment will enable Siemens to service an increasing number of onshore and offshore wind turbines as well as rail motors, couplings, gearboxes and other components, and will in time mean an additional 50 personnel.  A total of five people have already been recruited as part of the first investment phase, which focuses on rail motor servicing.  The Leeds factory has service contracts of up to 30 years for rail component work, helping to secure the workforce’s future for many years to come.

The Leeds factory will also be the UK base for a new range of highly efficient geared motors called Simogear, which widens Siemens’ bandwidth in competing with other major European geared motor manufacturers.  The site also recently achieved zero waste being sent to landfill, another milestone under general manager Simon Nadin and his team.

Simon Nadin commented: “This latest investment in Mechanical Drives underpins Siemens’ huge commitment to UK manufacturing, and is great news for the dedicated team we have.  We are already planning for the growth by taking on experienced engineers plus a growing number of young apprentices and we support training programmes like the Leeds City Region’s Employment and Skills initiative, along with Leeds’ bid for a UTC – all of which should help create a bank of UK engineers for the future.”

Meanwhile, the Siemens Leeds factory has completed a five-month project to install an electrical test field as part of the rail motors service commitment, and as Siemens project manager Craig Beech confirmed, it’s all systems go: “We’ve moved lots of existing plant to make way for the new facility and it’s been an exciting challenge with a tight deadline.  We’ve sourced locally wherever possible, too, so the acoustic enclosure has come from Wakefield, civil works were carried out by a Leeds company, electrical work by a Rochdale company, cranes and hoists were from Sheffield and air guards came from a company in the Pennines.  This project went live in July.”

Helping the Siemens team celebrate the investment on 25 July were invited stakeholders and guests including Leeds Central MP Hilary Benn, who returned to the site after officially opening it in December 2011.

ENDS

PHOTO-CAPTION:  The Siemens Mechanical Drives factory at Leeds is enjoying further significant investment to secure its future at the heart of UK manufacturing.  Pictured l-r are Simon Nadin (Siemens), Hilary Benn MP and Siemens engineer Steve Brearey in the Leeds factory

For more information and photos please contact Bridget Summers on 01723 447424, email bridget@footprintpr.org.uk or Paul Addison on 07808 823011, email paul.addison@siemens.com

Siemens in the UK

Siemens was established in the United Kingdom 170 years ago and now employs around 13,760 people in the UK.  Last year’s revenues were £3.36 billion*.  As the world’s largest engineering company, Siemens provides innovative solutions to help tackle the world’s major challenges, across the key sectors of energy, industry, infrastructure & cities and healthcare.  Siemens has offices and factories throughout the UK, with its headquarters in Frimley, Surrey.  The company’s global headquarters is in Munich, Germany.  For more information, visit www.siemens.co.uk

* Data includes intercompany revenue. Data may not be comparable with revenue reported in annual or interim reports.

The Siemens Industry Sector (Erlangen, Germany) is the world’s leading supplier of innovative and environmentally friendly products and solutions for industrial customers.  With end-to-end automation technology and industrial software, solid vertical-market expertise, and technology-based services, the Sector enhances its customers’ productivity, efficiency and flexibility.  With a global workforce of more than 100,000 employees, the Industry Sector comprises the Divisions Industry Automation, Drive Technologies and Customer Services, as well as the Business Unit Metals Technologies.