£1m investment will help Leeds plant to build geared motors
Siemens is investing £1m in its UK mechanical drives factory in Leeds, expanding its capabilities to assemble a new range of geared motors and to service rail components. The company says that the investment could lead to the creation of 50 new jobs.
The factory will become the UK base for a new range of efficient Simogear geared motors, which will help Siemens to compete effectively with other geared motor manufacturers.
The investment will also enable Siemens to service more onshore and offshore wind turbines, as well as rail motors, couplings, gearboxes and other components.
Five people have already been recruited as part of the first investment phase, which is focusing on rail motor servicing. The factory recently completed a five-month project to install an electrical test field for servicing these motors, and has service contracts of up to 30 years for rail component work, helping to secure its workforce for many years to come.
“This latest investment in mechanical drives underpins Siemens’ huge commitment to UK manufacturing, and is great news for the dedicated team we have,” says the site’s general manager, Simon Nadin. “We are already planning for the growth by taking on experienced engineers plus a growing number of young apprentices, and we support training programmes like the Leeds City Region’s Employment and Skills initiative, along with Leeds’ bid for a UTC – all of which should help create a bank of UK engineers for the future.”
To help celebrate the investment, Siemens recently a group of guests to the site, including the Leeds Central MP, Hilary Benn, who opened the site officially in December 2011.
Siemens' investment in the Leeds plant comes not long after it announced plans for new factory in Hull that will specialise in wind turbine assembly.
