Rolls-Royce tech park partnership set to create 17,500 skilled jobs

Rolls-Royce Submarines has signed a strategic partnership with the developer of a 200-acre technology park at Infinity Park Derby, which is expected to support the creation of 17,500 skilled jobs.

The agreement with INFINITY will see Rolls-Royce develop advanced manufacturing and prototyping facilities at the site, strengthening the UK’s capacity to produce components for nuclear submarines and other strategically important industries.

The partnership comes as Rolls-Royce Submarines expands its operations at Raynesway, in Derby, to meet growing demand from the Royal Navy and Australia’s nuclear-powered submarine programme under the AUKUS agreement.

Lee Warren, engineering and technology director at Rolls-Royce Submarines, said: “As our business grows to meet the demand for our naval nuclear propulsion work, including increasing our manufacturing drumbeat and providing reactors to Australia as part of the AUKUS agreement, we need to ensure we are continually exploring new technologies.

“For over 65 years we have designed, developed, manufactured, and maintained the reactors that power the UK’s fleet of nuclear submarines, and we have done this by balancing consistent delivery with exploring future innovations.

“The INFINITY technology park means we can focus on delivery at our Raynesway site in Derby, while continuing to lead the way in advanced manufacturing techniques for the next generation of nuclear power from purpose-built facilities. It further enhances Derby’s reputation as a hub for nuclear expertise.”

INFINITY is developing a technology park at Infinity Park Derby, which will bring together full-scale prototyping, digital engineering, testing, skills development and supply chain collaboration.

The Rolls-Royce Nuclear Skills Academy already operates at the site, but the latest agreement will see the company work with INFINITY to establish additional manufacturing capabilities.

These will include hot isostatic pressing, power beam welding and additive manufacturing, technologies designed to accelerate the production of complex components while reducing material consumption and costs.

The facilities are intended to support industries including defence, nuclear fission and fusion, and aerospace.

Crucially, the partnership will allow Rolls-Royce to develop and test new manufacturing techniques away from its existing Raynesway production facilities, where it is focused on delivering nuclear reactor systems for the UK’s submarine fleet.

INFINITY is seeking to attract industrial partners, specialist suppliers, universities and training providers to the development.

By bringing these organisations together, it aims to give manufacturers access to advanced facilities needed to develop and scale up technologies for highly regulated industries.

Professor Gary Jones, chief executive of INFINITY, said: “A key objective of INFINITY is to support sovereign manufacture of advanced components, and this agreement will help to achieve that by providing new capabilities for the UK defence programme.

“The role for INFINITY is to provide new capabilities for advanced manufacturing scale-up to support UK defence. I am very proud to announce our partnership and look forward to working with Rolls-Royce Submarines.”

The announcement follows a separate strategic partnership between INFINITY and UK Fusion Energy, which is responsible for delivering the UK’s first prototype fusion power plant.

That agreement will help shape the Derby site’s capabilities around the requirements of the STEP Fusion programme, which is developing a prototype fusion power plant at West Burton in Nottinghamshire.