The Advanced Manufacturing Park (AMP) is a manufacturing technology park in Waverley, Rotherham,

South Yorkshire South Yorkshire is a ceremonial and metropolitan county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. The county has four council areas which are the cities of Doncaster and Sheffield as well as the boroughs of Barnsley and Rotherham. I ...

, England. It was partly funded by the

European Regional Development Fund The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) is one of the European Structural and Investment Funds allocated by the European Union. Its purpose is to transfer money from richer regions (not countries), and invest it in the infrastructure and se ...

, and developed by th
Harworth Group
previously the property development wing of UK Coal, on reclaimed opencast coal mine land close to the site of the battle of Orgreave.

Organisations on site

The major tenants at the AMP are: * Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC), a joint venture between

University of Sheffield The University of Sheffield (informally Sheffield University or TUOS) is a public university, public research university in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, England. Its history traces back to the foundation of Sheffield Medical School in 1828, Firth C ...

and over a hundred industrial partners in addition to

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and ...

. * Bodycote * Castings Technology International (Cti) * Excel Superturn *

McLaren Automotive McLaren Automotive (formerly known as McLaren Cars) is a British luxury automotive manufacturer based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, England. The main products of the company are supercars, which are produced in-house in designa ...

* Metalysis * Nikken Europe * Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) *

Rolls-Royce Rolls-Royce (always hyphenated) may refer to: * Rolls-Royce Limited, a British manufacturer of cars and later aero engines, founded in 1906, now defunct Automobiles * Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, the current car manufacturing company incorporated ...

* Sandvik Coromant * The Welding Institute * UK Atomic Energy Authority The AMP Technology Centre houses approximately 40 manufacturing/technology related businesses in its three buildings. These range from start-up companies, to spin-outs from universities and larger companies. The Centre also houses a cafe and conference/meeting room facilities.

Development history

2022

In April 2022, the Harworth Group announced that it had secured planning consent for a new development of 93,000 sq. ft of industrial units, in the southern part of the AMP. The development comprises three buildings ranging from 17,000 sq. ft to 44,000 sq. ft, and is designed for sub-division into smaller units as required.

2021

In January 2021 it was announced that the management of Castings Technology International Ltd had undertaken a buyout of the business from the

. The newly independent company would remain located in its AMP-based facilities. In September 2021, the UK Atomic Energy Authority's (UKAEA) new fusion energy research facility was officially opened at the AMP. The pioneering facility includes the CHIMERA (Combined Heating and Magnetic Research Apparatus) test rig - the only facility in the world with the ability to test prototype components in an environment simulating the conditions inside a fusion power plant.

2019

It was announced in early September that the UK Atomic Energy Authority (UKAEA) plans to locate a fusion energy research facility at the AMP next year to engage industry in commercial fusion energy development. Construction of the facility was completed in October 2020.

2018

The Duke of Cambridge, the Duchess of Cambridge and the Crown Prince of Bahrain officially opened a production facility for

2016

2016 saw the official opening of a new 32,000 sq ft facility which comprised the third phase of the AMP Technology Centre. The building, funded by the Homes and Communities Agency, includes specialist office and workshop spaces. The purpose of the facility is to provide companies the opportunity to expand into larger premises from existing Technology Centre facilities as well as attracting high technology companies from further afield.

2015

2015 saw the opening of a new demonstration and customer support centre – the Nikken Innovation Centre Europe at the AMP's R-evolution development. The Centre is designed to help companies become more competitive by increasing production rates and quality while reducing costs. In 2018, Nikken announced a further expansion of the Centre.

2014

The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing signed a deal to secure land at Sheffield Business Park, paving the way for the further expansion of the AMRC which could not be accommodated on the AMP site. The first development at the new location, sited directly opposite the existing AMPs developments on the other side of the Parkway, was announced as the AMRC Factory 2050. This £43 million project will develop the UK's first fully reconfigurable assembly and component manufacturing facility for collaborative research, capable of rapidly switching production between different high-value components and one-off parts. In March 2014 Rotherham Council announced a £4.3 million deal that will enable development to begin at the R-evolution @ The AMP scheme. Landowner and developer, Harworth Estates had previously announced plans to develop 100,000 sq ft of industrial units on seven acres of land, following on from the success of the Evolution @ the AMP development built in 2008.

2013

The year saw construction of two major new facilities for the AMRC. Firstly, The AMRC Training Centre, based in a new 5,500 sq m building. The Centre took in its first intake of students in autumn 2013 with partial funding from a £9.2 million Regional Growth Fund grant. In February 2013, Harworth Estates announced that it had sold the 'Evolution @ the AMP' development of light industrial / hybrid units to Cornerstone, the real estate advisory and investment company, for £7 million. During the summer of 2013 The University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) announced its acquisition of Castings Technology International (Cti). As part of the agreement, the staff, buildings and assets of Cti and Titanium Castings UK Ltd (TCUK), including the ongoing research work, commercial contracts and consultancy were transferred to become a University of Sheffield subsidiary company.

2012

An official groundbreaking ceremony took place to mark the start of construction on the ABCF in June 2012, with the Business Secretary Vince Cable and Rolls-Royce's Colin Smith, Director of Engineering and Technology performing the honours with some of Rolls-Royce's apprentices. Harworth Estates also agreed contracts with Taylor Wimpey, Harron Homes and Barratt Homes to build new homes on their Waverley site marking the first phase of residential development. The house builders acquired a total of 20 acres for an initial 254 homes, and work on the infrastructure and spine road access to the housing site started in spring 2012. The first houses were offered for sale following a launch event with England 1966 football hero Gordon Banks in September 2012.

2010

The AMP became home to the new £25 million Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (Nuclear AMRC) led by the University of Sheffield with Rolls-Royce, funded with £15 million from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and £10 million from the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward. The virtual ground-breaking for the site was performed by Her Majesty The Queen.

2009

2009 saw the completion of an extension to the AMP Technology Centre, doubling the lettable office and workshop space. Alongside other innovative features the building also boasted an adjacent

hydrogen Hydrogen is the chemical element with the symbol H and atomic number 1. Hydrogen is the lightest element. At standard conditions hydrogen is a gas of diatomic molecules having the formula . It is colorless, odorless, tasteless, non-toxic ...

minigrid system (HMGS). The HMGS worked by capturing wind energy to generate electricity for the building from a 225KW wind turbine. Any excess electricity was then converted to hydrogen via electrolysis for later use by either a fuel cell during periods of low wind speed or as transport fuel via a hydrogen refuelling point.

2008

The

"Factory of the Future with Boeing" was built as part of the

's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC). The Factory was purpose built to house the latest manufacturing equipment and production capabilities. Information Communications Technology (ICT) and 'virtual'

manufacturing Manufacturing is the creation or production of goods with the help of equipment, labor, machines, tools, and chemical or biological processing or formulation. It is the essence of secondary sector of the economy. The term may refer to a ...

were the key components of the new facility, along with alternative manufacturing methods, such as

additive manufacturing 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...

processes which grow 3-dimensional parts; considerably reducing material waste and increasing design flexibility. Construction was completed by the end of 2007, and the facility officially opened in summer 2008. 2008 also saw the construction of the 'Evolution @ the AMP' development of speculative industrial units. This was the first private sector investment at the AMP. The anchor tenant was Dormer Tools, who opened a new Research & Development facility.

2006

Yorkshire Forward completed the construction of the main wing of the AMP Technology Centre, of offices and workshops to cater for small high-growth companies in the Advanced Manufacturing and Materials sector. The building was officially opened by three-time Formula 1 World Champion

Sir Jackie Stewart Sir John Young Stewart (born 11 June 1939), known as Jackie Stewart, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland. Nicknamed the "Flying Scot", he competed in Formula One between 1965 and 1973, winning three World Drivers' Cham ...

. The Castings Technology International & TWI Yorkshire buildings were also opened.

2004

The first Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) building was opened, the first facility developed on the AMP.

Road names

All roads on the AMP are named after famous engineers. These include: * Brindley Way – James Brindley: master canal engineer, and one of the most notable engineers of the eighteenth century * Brunel Way –

Isambard Kingdom Brunel Isambard Kingdom Brunel (; 9 April 1806 – 15 September 1859) was a British civil engineer who is considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history," "one of the 19th-century engineering giants," and "one ...

: considered "one of the most ingenious and prolific figures in engineering history" * Mitchell Way –

R. J. Mitchell Reginald Joseph Mitchell (20 May 189511 June 1937) was a British aircraft designer who worked for the Southampton aviation company Supermarine from 1916 until 1936. He is best remembered for designing racing seaplanes such as the Supermari ...

: aeronautical engineer, who designed many aircraft including the iconic

Supermarine Spitfire The Supermarine Spitfire is a British single-seat fighter aircraft used by the Royal Air Force and other Allies of World War II, Allied countries before, during, and after World War II. Many variants of the Spitfire were built, from the Mk 1 ...

* Morse Way – Stephen Morse: inventor of the twist drill * Selden Way – George B. Selden: inventor granted a U.S. patent for an automobile in 1895. * Stephenson Way – Robert Stephenson: designer of the ''

Rocket A rocket (from it, rocchetto, , bobbin/spool) is a vehicle that uses jet propulsion to accelerate without using the surrounding air. A rocket engine produces thrust by reaction to exhaust expelled at high speed. Rocket engines work entire ...

'' locomotive in 1829. * Wallis Way – Barnes Wallis: scientist, engineer and inventor, best known for inventing the bouncing bomb used by The Dam Busters. * Whittle Way – Frank Whittle: inventor of the turbojet engine.

References

External links

Advanced Manufacturing Park Technology Centre
{{Authority control Buildings and structures in Rotherham Industrial parks in the United Kingdom Manufacturing in the United Kingdom Science and technology in South Yorkshire