Bid for cutting-edge research

Bondholders Derby City Council, the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership and the University of Derby are supporting a funding bid to Government to establish a new advanced manufacturing research centre.

The £20m initiative would create a new permanent home on Derby’s Infinity Park for the Nuclear Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, an organisation which helps companies develop new techniques and processes to win work in the nuclear sector and tackle manufacturing challenges in automotive, rail, aerospace, renewable energy and other high-value sectors.

The project would create 70 jobs and help to reboot the local economy after the coronavirus crisis.

The move follows the success of a pilot project run by the Nuclear AMRC over the past 18 months and would see an exciting new partnership formed to help businesses in the region boost employment through innovation. Nuclear AMRC is part of the Government-supported High-Value Manufacturing Catapult, which bridges the gap between industry and academia to bring innovative ideas into commercial reality.

It set up a pilot operation at Bondholder Connect Derby's iHub on Derby’s Infinity Park in February last year and since then has worked on projects with the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Sellafield nuclear plant and has collaborated with East Midlands universities on renewable energy and decarbonising transport initiatives.

It would also become a base for the University of Derby’s Institute of Innovation in Sustainable Engineering, which has developed an international reputation for innovation in design, manufacturing, product lifecycle management and the application of new and smart materials.

A funding bid has been submitted to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Councillor Matthew Holmes, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Regeneration said the project was a key part of the city’s economic recovery strategy and would help local companies to diversify and grow.

He declared: “Derby has been a world leader in innovation for the past 300 years. We want to ensure that our businesses are well-placed to benefit from the development of new processes and particularly new, clean technologies that will help the UK achieve net zero emissions by 2050.”

Professor Warren Manning, Provost – Innovation and Research, at the University of Derby, added: “From the university’s perspective, this presents an exciting potential opportunity. The new base would provide the space for greater collaboration between IISE and Nuclear AMRC and possible co-location there too.”