Rolls-Royce today announced leading multi-disciplinary professional services consultancy WSP as its non-fissile design partner – a key milestone in the expansion of its Raynesway site.
In June last year, it was announced that Rolls-Royce would be doubling the size of its Submarines site in Derby to meet the growth in demand from the Royal Navy, and as a result of last year’s AUKUS announcement.
This increase in demand will see new manufacturing and office facilities being built and will create 1,170 skilled roles across a range of disciplines, including manufacturing and engineering.
It will be WSP’s role to design these new facilities and the infrastructure that links the site together.
Rolls-Royce Submarines Infrastructure Director Terry Meighan said:
“AUKUS won’t be delivered by one or two companies. It will take strong partnerships across the whole supply chain to meet the increased demands for the critical work we do. Selecting WSP as our design partner is the start of our journey to meeting the demands placed on us.
Throughout the procurement process WSP stood out when demonstrating their technical capability, capacity and culture. Importantly, they also shared our vision and commitment to delivering our commitments to the MOD and the wider AUKUS agreement.”
Oliver Curlett, Head of Defence & Security at WSP, said:
“WSP is proud to be partnering with Rolls-Royce to design optimised, resilient and complex critical infrastructure which enables ongoing delivery of its world-leading capability to customers, both now and into the future.
We are excited to bring our expertise to the team and are committed to ensuring collaborative delivery of Rolls-Royce’s infrastructure programme, in support of AUKUS and as a key part of wider MOD strategic commitments.”
The next milestone in Rolls-Royce’s ten-year expansion programme is to select the non-fissile construction partner, who will bring WSP’s designs to life. They will be tasked with building the manufacturing and office facilities and the adjoining site infrastructure. The winning firm will be announced in the coming weeks.
Does anyone else find the fact RR’s submarine site is in Derby amusing?
Why would anyone find it amusing ? It was the logical choice when it al started up back in 1954, 1960 when Raynesway gained its first Nuclear Site Licence and it still is !
There are many very good reasons its where it is, and even more why it will not be going elsewhere anytime soon.
Umm because it is about as far from the sea that you can be in the UK? come on the irony is plain to see!!!!
Thank you 🙂
Do you seriously think building one of the most potentially dangerous and precisely machined steel mechanisms ever built by man next to the sea is a good idea ? Just think Swiss Watch precision and if it goes wrong you kill the entire crew and a lot of marine life. And if you don’t believe me just go stick your car by the sea for a couple of years and see how it gets on. The other issue is salt is Sodium and when it gets involved you can get all sorts of really bad reactions in metal, which are… Read more »
‘Seriously’ …is that all you understand….it’s called humour look it up in the dictionary and maybe you can try and aquire some.
Duh so are all the US, French, Russian and Chinese submarine reactors manufacturers ! You always put your most critical defence establishments inland. Hence Aldermaston, Harwell, BAe Warton etc etc, except of course the ship yards.
You don’t need to be beside the Sea (in fact it’s a seriously bad environment).
What you absolutely need are 3 things, secure land, constant access to fresh water and the main reason a large pool of highly skilled engineers who are used to working to incredibly high tolerances.
Hence they picked Derby, because it ticks every box.
You don’t understand irony do you?
Here is a quick definition for you:
Irony
“a state of affairs or an event that seems deliberately contrary to what one expects and is often wryly amusing as a result.”
I do get Irony and as someone who started as an Apprentice here in Derby 43 years ago, I learnt that bits of Irony in precision machinery can get someone killed.
And quite possibly my family, my city and a bloody big bit of central England.
How ironic is that ?
It’s not irony as it doesn’t meet the definition of irony. Why are you taking this do seriously?
Irony is the juxtaposition of two themes that seem contrary but in fact are not IE. Derby far from sea, submarine not far from sea, being near sea not actually important.
I’m originally from Stoke luckily there is virtually no industry left there at all so all they will get is fallout.
Probably the best thing for Stoke ( I can say that to you as you obviously understand humour).
I will give that a big old thumbs up 🙂🙂👍👍👍
But BAE Warton is by the sea – on the Ribble estuary and a couple of miles from the beach. Rolls Royce nuclear is in Derby because that’s where Rolls Royce was based when Rolls Royce and Associates was set up in 1954.
Humour and Irony are sadly lacking on this site for some.
Hmmm… evidently this expansion is at least slightly more complicated than constucting the new BAE T-26 fabrication facility. 🤔😉
Yep which is why yours are built in famous resorts in Pittsburg and Idaho and others on Palm beaches in Hanford, Alamogordo and New Mexico.
You are ex USAF so I hope I don’t offend you with this statement ! A modern US or UK nuclear Submarine are quite simply the most precisely constructed and complicated bits of machinery ever constructed. The Space Shuttle was a 1990s Ford in comparison !
Sometimes I just want to give up 🥴
Indeed, was being more than slightly facetious w/ my post, as indicated by 😉 emoji.
Agreed, SSN/SSBNs are the most complicated at this point, but will not hazard an opinion re future seventh and eighth generation a/c.
Lol Ian….😄
Yes, I can see exactly the humour in that, quite why the bloke got all serious and argumentative is beyond me. Some people need to Chill.
Ok, so it sounds like they selected an A/E firm for the design phase of needed facilities. Next comes picking the Construction Manager to build them. I presume both will be UK companies who have longstanding relationships with RR and the MoD.
It actually only makes sense when you consider the key word is “Announced today”. It bares little resemblance to the reality of what’s going on here in Derby 🤔
UK Gov has actually got its Arse in Gear (for once).
Most likely Mace or Balfour Beatty. Kier may be considered but nothing more. WSP as AE is tiring however.
Kier has dropped off over the years. Used to be one of the first names on the list.
Slightly off topic, but somewhat related. Has BAE Systems withdrawn plans for the new submarine facility in Barrow?
Not that I’m aware of, but just because it sounds like something, doesn’t mean it is something. The devil is in the detail and Politicians tend to leave the Nitty Gritty to someone else. So stop worrying because the real decisions are made by engineering certainties. For example how can Australia build their own Nuclear Submarines in Australia when due to NPT they can’t have any access to HEU what so ever ? Politics says, fudge it, hope no one notices and pass the explanation on to the next bod. In fact if I were a betting person (and I’m… Read more »
Makes perfect sense. The aft reactor/propulsor section will be built in the UK, the bow and mid-section in Australia.
What’s worth watching however is the USN pushing back the entry date for SSN(X). AUKUS SSN was coming first and was supposed to be smaller, but now they’re looking more like parallel projects, which is making me think that there may be some more significant commonalities that previously anticipated. Will be interesting to watch how these 2 programs develop, especially if they’re trying to create an ‘integrated’ industrial supply chain. Hard to do that with 2 separate designs.
There’s really not much the this government has done right, but AUKUS and Tempest are probably 2.
Still won’t vote for them or Labour though 🙂