Siemens to invest in Leeds following Record Growth
Siemens Mechanical Drives in Leeds is set to invest in a long term growth plan that will see an additional 50 Leeds based staff recruited, coupled with a £1 million investment to expand its capabilities in servicing rail components and in assembling a new range of geared motors.
This follows record annual results at the site in 2013 owing to new orders from a variety of industrial sectors, including renewable energy, rail and aggregates. Since relocating from Bradford four years ago the business has grown by 10% with plans to double this in the next two years.
The facility in Leeds is a state-of-the-art assembly centre for mechanical drives. These include gear units, geared motors, motors, and couplings for general industry as well as emerging technologies such as wind and wave power.
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. A total of five people have already been recruited as part of the first investment phase, which focuses on rail motor servicing. There are plans to ensure that at least two apprenticeships will be created each year too.
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 Leeds site also recently achieved zero waste being sent to landfill, another milestone under general manager Simon Nadin and his team.
Leeds Central MP Hillary Benn, who formally opened the site in 2011, visited on 25 July to discuss the growth plans alongside Siemens’ commitment to backing a University Technical College in the location.
Hillary Benn commented: “It is great news that new jobs have been created at Siemens in Stourton as a result of winning the train motor servicing contract. This is really positive for Leeds. I’m pleased to see that the company is taking on apprentices to maintain a skilled workforce in future, but we need as a society to do more to encourage young people in school to see engineering as a future career. Siemens also have plans in Hull, which is good news for the region too.”
Simon Nadin commented: “This latest investment in Mechanical Drives underpins Siemens’ significant commitment to UK manufacturing, and is great news for the dedicated team we have here at Leeds. Planning to increase headcount after sustained growth highlights that we see Yorkshire as a good place to do business - and that we are more confident in the market place. This is partly driven by the announcement to invest £160m in Hull’s wind turbine factory - which is helping lead the recovery in the region.
“In addition to this we already have a growing number of young apprentices so we are supporting local training initiatives like the Leeds City Region’s Employment and Skills initiative, along with Leeds’ bid for a UTC.”
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 further photos please contact Bridget Summers on 01723 447424, email bridget@footprintpr.org.uk or Paul Addison on 07808 823011, email pauladdison@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.
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