Rolls-Royce looks to invest in submarine operation

Rolls-Royce has lodged plans with Derby City Council to create new office space at its submarines business in the city.

The company has submitted an outline planning application to replace the South Wing building at its Raynesway site, which has been deemed as no longer fit for purpose.

Rolls-Royce is proposing to replace it with a new four-storey building, which will provide more than 200,000 sq ft of manufacturing and office space.

A statement filed with the city council, on behalf of the applicant, said: “The need for the proposed development has been identified by Rolls-Royce to ensure that the submarine business at the Raynesway Estate is in a position to meet the Ministry of Defence’s production and organisational needs and requirements.”

John Forkin, managing director of Marketing Derby, said: “The Rolls-Royce campus at Raynesway is already one of the most important sites for invention, building and testing of nuclear technology.

“The sheer scale of this investment is a massive vote of confidence in the company, the city and its workforce and complements perfectly the recent launch of the Nuclear Skills Academy across the city.”

Four years ago, the Ministry of Defence awarded a £235 million contract to Rolls-Royce Submarines, which is part of the group’s defence business, to support nuclear propulsion systems.

Rolls-Royce’s Raynesway site designs and builds the reactors that power the nuclear submarines.

Defence contracts worth more than £2 billion were awarded to BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce Submarines last year to begin the third major phase of the future submarine nuclear deterrent programme – Dreadnought.

This contract will allow four new submarines to be built in the UK from the 2030s, which will have a lifespan of about 30 years.

According to the planning application, the latest investment at Raynesway is expected to create an extra 30 manufacturing jobs, as well as provide new accommodation for 450 existing office staff.

The plans follow the opening of Rolls-Royce’s Nuclear Skills Academy at Infinity Park Derby.

Run in collaboration with the University of Derby (BH), the academy, created at the former iHub, aims to produce the nuclear engineers of the future.