Ansty Park - Coventry continues to expand

Work has begun on a £30 million Aerospace Research Centre adjacent to the pioneering Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry.
 
The centre, on the MTC’s Ansty Park site, will provide a national facility for ground breaking aerospace research in the heart of the country. MTC engineers will work with experts from the world’s major aerospace companies on projects which will define aerospace technology for the future.
 
Steve Holland, Head of Asset Management at Homes and Communities Agency, who own Ansty Park, commented: “Ansty Park is receiving not only national but also international recognition and this new facility will undoubtedly increase this further. Coventry has a significant industrial heritage and it is satisfying to see it leading the way again due to the highly skilled workforce in the area and its strategic location. These new facilities which are being brought about by government and industry working closely together are undoubtedly contributing to the re-industrialisation of the UK, part of the government’s long-term economic plan.”
 
“We are working with developer Highbridge Properties and their property consultants Cushman and Wakefield to deliver, when completed, 1.5 million sq ft of accommodation at this 100 acre technology park.”
 
As well as the MTC, Ansty Park is also seeing the development of a 65,000 sq ft high-temperature research centre that is being built as a joint collaboration between the University of Birmingham and Rolls-Royce. In addition Sainsbury’s  occupy 168,000 sq ft at the entrance to Ansty Park as their Store Support Centre accommodating 1,000 of Sainsbury’s senior and creative staff in state-of-the-art buildings.
 
The Department of Business, Innovation and Skills is providing £15.2 million funding for the new aerospace facility through the Government’s High Value Manufacturing Catapult and the Technology Strategy Board; this investment with be matched with funding from industry.  The Aerospace Research Centre will form part of the MTC’s Research & Development campus which will also include MTC’s new Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre which will tackle manufacturing skills shortages by training manufacturing engineering apprentices on a sponsored or part-sponsored basis, up-skilling manufacturing engineers, and developing graduate engineers and industrial designers.
 
The new Aerospace Research Centre is part of an ambitious £90 million expansion plan for the MTC and marks the beginning of a strategy to lead and establish cultural changes in developing and nurturing the skills needed for future technologies.
 
The MTC opened in 2011 and is a partnership between some of the UK’s major global manufacturers and three forward-thinking universities: Birmingham, Nottingham and Loughborough as well as TWI Ltd.
 
The MTC aims to provide a competitive environment to bridge the gap between university-based research and the development of innovative manufacturing solutions, in line with the Government’s manufacturing strategy. The MTC is part the High Value Manufacturing Catapult, supported by the Technology Strategy Board.
 
MTC chief executive Dr Clive Hickman said the new Aerospace Research Centre would provide a key hub for leading edge aerospace research in a real manufacturing environment.

“The existing Manufacturing Technology Centre, the Advanced Manufacturing Training Academy and the Aerospace Research Centre, along with other exciting facilities which we will be developing, will provide a world-class environment to develop and demonstrate new technologies and manufacturing processes on an industrial scale in partnership with industry, academia and Government,” he said.
The Manufacturing Technology Centre’s growth has far exceeded early expectations, hitting many of its targets five years early.

Clive Hickman added, “Our incredible growth from a standing start is based on work generated by our growing membership, who has shown faith in us to deliver new processes for them, as well the support of our research partners and the commitment of MTC employees. We have developed a strong aerospace, automotive and ICT expertise and we are active across several industrial sectors.