Sheffield Forgemasters has reached a key construction milestone in its new machine shop development, holding a Topping Out ceremony to mark the installation of the final steel roof beam.
The event brought together the company’s machine shop teams and development contractor McLaughlin & Harvey at the site of the new 30,000 m² facility, where the building’s steel framework is now nearly complete.
Guests were invited to sign the final roof beam before it was put in place. The honour of tightening the ceremonial golden bolt securing the beam went to two employees representing opposite ends of the company’s workforce: Paul Haxton, Sheffield Forgemasters’ longest-serving machinist with almost 50 years’ service, and Joe Garrett, a first-year apprentice.
Gareth Barker, Chief Operating Officer at Sheffield Forgemasters, said the milestone reflected the scale of the company’s ambitions for the site.
“This event marks a significant milestone in the development of our new machine shop, and it is fantastic so many people were able to join us to mark the occasion,” Barker said. “Our new facility enables us to bring together our years of expertise and investment in state-of-the-art machines, to deliver incredible accuracies and dramatically improve our ability to innovate, making Sheffield Forgemasters more competitive on the world stage.”
Barker noted that the ceremony brought together generations of the company’s workforce. “Attending the topping out ceremony were a number of our long serving employees, some with almost fifty years of service with the company, alongside our first-year apprentices, who’ll transfer this inherited skill and knowledge into future engineering practices,” he said. For many of the machinists present, it was their first visit to the site that will eventually become their new workplace.
The new machine shop is being constructed alongside a 13,000-tonne forging line, both forming part of a £1.3 billion recapitalisation programme led by the company’s owner, the Ministry of Defence.
“It’s less than two years until the site is due to become operational and will provide a working environment that is cleaner, faster and better in every way,” Barker added. “This really is an exciting time for Sheffield Forgemasters.”
The machine shop, which is fast becoming a landmark on Sheffield’s skyline, is scheduled to become operational by the end of 2028.
The project team includes Arup, responsible for ecological and travel assessments; Bond Bryan Architects; JLL, which represented Sheffield Forgemasters on site acquisition and planning submissions; and delivery support partner Turner & Townsend.
