Major expansion plans at Rolls-Royce site given go-ahead

Plans by engineering giant Rolls-Royce to significantly expand one of its sites in Derby have been given the go-ahead.

Derby City Council has given the green light for the firm to redevelop its Raynesway site, paving the way for the creation of almost 1,200 new jobs.

The plans include the construction of new manufacturing facilities and a multi-storey car park aimed at supporting the company’s nuclear submarine contracts.

The expansion is needed to accommodate the surge in demand from the Royal Navy and to fulfil the requirements for supplying nuclear reactor plants to power the new attack submarines under the AUKUS agreement.

In March last year, it was confirmed that Rolls-Royce Submarines would provide all the nuclear reactor plants that will power new attack submarines as part of the tri-lateral agreement between Australia, the UK and the US.

Rolls-Royce Submarines currently employs more than 4,000 people and designs, manufactures and provides in-service support to the pressurised water reactors that power every boat in the Royal Navy’s submarine fleet.

Last month, the engineering announced it had selected a design partner for the Raynesway expansion project.

Multi-disciplinary professional services consultancy WSP will design the new facilities and the infrastructure that links the site together.

Terry Meighan, infrastructure director at Rolls-Royce Submarines, said: “AUKUS won’t be delivered by one or two companies. It will take strong partnerships across the whole supply chain to meet the increased demands for the critical work we do.

“Selecting WSP as our design partner is the start of our journey to meeting the demands placed on us.

“Throughout the procurement process WSP stood out when demonstrating their technical capability, capacity and culture.

“Importantly, they also shared our vision and commitment to delivering our commitments to the MoD and the wider AUKUS agreement.”

The next milestone in Rolls-Royce’s 10-year expansion programme is to select the construction partner, who will bring WSP’s designs to life.

They will be tasked with building the manufacturing and office facilities and the adjoining site infrastructure. The winning firm will be announced in the coming weeks.