Sheffield Forgemasters

History

The company was established in 1983 from the merger of Firth Brown and British Steel Corporation's River Don Works forging operations, as a public company. The company can trace its heritage back to the start of the steel industry in Sheffield in the 18th century. The firms of Vickers, Cammell Laird, and Armstrong Whitworth were all nationalised to form British Steel in the 1960s. Their buildings now dominate the Brightside area of East Sheffield. Forgemasters' main building is from the Victorian era.

The company has had a chequered history due to the cyclical demand for specialist forgings and castings. After being placed into administration in 2003, in 2005 it was the subject of a management buyout.

Capabilities

The company specialises in forged and cast parts for suppliers to the engineering, nuclear, oil, petrochemical, and process industries worldwide.

The company has the American Society of Mechanical Engineers N-stamp accreditation for critical nuclear components, having produced major components for the Astute class submarines and the civil nuclear industry, including Sizewell B, the UK's only pressurised water reactor.

Sheffield Forgemasters currently has the capacity for pouring the largest single casting (570 tonnes) in Europe. The two forging presses in use can exert a pressure of 3,500 tonnes and 10,000 tonnes on a billet of steel. The 3,500 tonne press was installed in 2010 to replace a 1,500 tonne press which dated back to 1897 and was originally steam powered, and after several upgrades became hydraulically operated.

2007 Sheffield floods

The company was severely affected by the 2007 United Kingdom floods, when the nearby River Don flooded the works with several feet of water, but after a cleanup effort Forgemasters was back in action within weeks of the devastation.

2010 expansion

Due to increasing demand for their specialist services, in 2010 the firm commissioned a new 4,000 ton forging press, with plans to increase the range of forgings they can supply.

On 17 March 2010, Lord Mandelson announced that the UK Government would loan the company £80 million at a low 3.5% interest rate towards the design and building of a new 15,000 ton forging press (together with other investors). The press, intended to give Forgemasters the ability to manufacture ultra-large forgings for the nuclear power industry, would allow the UK to use home-manufactured components during the building of proposed new nuclear power plants in the country. According to The Engineer, as of 2010, there was only one other manufacturer in the world, Japan Steel Works, with the adequate presses and certification able to manufacture all the required ultra-large forgings, however the World Nuclear Association stated that very heavy forging capacity was also operating in China and Russia, and was under construction in France and South Korea.

Following the United Kingdom general election, 2010, held on 6 May, the new Government announced a Treasury review of all Government decisions on funding since 1 January, aimed at reducing the country's budget deficit in response to the preceding financial crisis and concerns over sovereign debt, which led to a period of uncertainty about the expansion's future. On 17 June 2010 Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander announced the cancellation of 12 projects totalling £2 billion agreed to by the previous Labour government, including the £80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters. The Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills Vince Cable explained the reason was that the project required very large loans and promised extraordinary rates of return with little risk investment by Sheffield Forgemasters, and given the financial situation the government could not support this. Forgemasters' chief executive stated that the project was not economic using private finance, and was unlikely to go ahead without government loans.

In an interview with BBC Radio Sheffield, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said the Government may reconsider loaning the company money for expansion. However, in 2011, following the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster, the company decided to no longer try to finance a 15,000 ton forging press due to uncertainty about the future of nuclear energy. On 31 October 2011 the UK Government announced new lending of up to £36m to the firm, as part of £950m of investment nationwide from the Regional Growth Fund for a variety of equipment in areas like the melt shop, forge and the machine shops.

On 19 January 2016 the company unveiled plans to consult on “up to 100 redundancies across all its divisions” out of nearly 800 staff. Chairman Tony Pedder explained that “The storm clouds which seem to gather periodically over the steel and steel-related sectors are once again evident. Of particular concern has been reduced activity in the traditional oil and gas sector, with oil prices down to a level that is deferring much potential new investment." The announcement was made as the company published accounts for the 18 months to December 2014, which showed a loss for the first time since the management buyout in 2005, of £9.4m.

Role in Iraqi supergun scandal

On 11 April 1990, HM Customs & Excise in Middlesbrough seized parts of what were believed to be a massive 'supergun' on a ship bound for Iraq. It was revealed that parts of the gun had been manufactured by Forgemasters who stated that they had been told that the pipes were to be used in a petrochemical project.