Sheffield Forgemasters has awarded a major Machine Shop construction project to McLaughlin & Harvey, valued at £210 million.
The Machine Shop will sit on a 16-acre brownfield site at Weedon Street, adjacent to existing Brightside Lane facilities, where a 30,000 m2 building will house 24 new machines, including some of the world’s largest Vertical Turning Lathes.
McLaughlin & Harvey has already completed enabling works and are underway with advanced works, which include piling for the building superstructure, machine bases foundations, and installation of site-wide drainage and storm-water attenuation tanks.
“The new Machine Shop main works contract is a major element within our recapitalisation programme and will create one of Europe’s most advanced defence machining facilities.
“McLaughlin & Harvey undertook the pre-construction works for the site and has delivered those elements at pace.
“Through the advanced works contract, they have installed more than 4,000 piles and undertaken associated civils works, including capping beams, pile caps and site wide drainage and services, meaning that erection of structural steelwork can commence in January 2026.”
Craig Fisher, Programme Director (Recapitalisation)
Sheffield Forgemasters
The scale of the building will become an iconic landmark for the city, clearly seen from the M1 Motorway near to Meadowhall and will complement construction of the UK’s largest open-die forging-line, which is also underway on our North Brightside Lane site.
“We look forward to working collaboratively with Sheffield Forgemasters to deliver a facility of such national significance, which will not only help support UK industries for generations to come but also support the local economy in South Yorkshire.
“This contract award showcases our talented workforce’s ability to manage large-scale, complex construction projects. It strengthens our growing reputation as a construction partner of choice for clients in the advanced manufacturing and defence sectors.”
Paul Griffen, Managing Director
McLaughlin & Harvey
Sheffield Forgemasters’ 13,000 tonne forging line and machine shop will create a new generation of engineers and designers trained to work with Industry 4.0 technologies to support UK defence manufacture.
The machine shop project team consists of Arup, which handled the ecological and travel assessments, Bond Bryan Architects, and JLL, which acted on behalf of Sheffield Forgemasters for the site acquisition and planning submissions.