Advanced Manufacturing and Engineering

Telford was built on business with manufacturing and innovation at its heart. Covering automotive and defence through to high tech electronics, digital and support services.  

An existing cluster of major manufacturers and suppliers offers businesses a ready-made supply-chain with relevant skills and experience. Diverse in innovation, product development and sector knowledge the Jaguar Land Rover plant 12 miles away accelerated further growth in this sector for the supply chain network of Tier 1,2 and 3 suppliers. 

Thriving in Telford: 
 

Cosma Casting UK is an operating unit of Magna International, one of the world’s premier global automotive suppliers. Its state-of-the-art aluminium casting factory opened in 2018 and brought with it three hundred jobs.  Initially making component parts for Jaguar Land Rover with a future proofed site to accommodate expansion off the back of new contracts won.  

Rheinmetall BAE Systems Land (RBSL) is a defense engineering company that manufacture, and support military vehicles used by the British army and international customers. RBSL invested over £20M in the Telford site to improve infrastructure, provide state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities, and deliver some of the highest standards of training for specialist capabilities, such as welding following the award of a £860 million contract for new military vehicles be built in Telford. 

Protolabs was founded by a successful entrepreneur who wanted to radically reduce the time it took to get injection-moulded plastic prototype parts. His solution was to automate the traditional manufacturing process by developing complex software that communicated with a network of mills and presses. As a result, plastic and metal parts could be produced in a fraction of the time it had ever taken before. The company continues to grow and innovate launching industrial grade 3D printing services offering the best possible digital manufacturing experience in the industry.  

Key Stats

• Telford has a workforce total of 85,000 of which 16.5% work in the AME sector
• 600,000 people in a 30 min journey to work time of Telford
• Telford is supported by a combined 9 universities across the West Midlands.
• 209,000 jobs are directly involved in advanced manufacturing and engineering within the West Midlands Combined Authority.
• Since 2010, GVA in AME has grown over 30% in the West Midlands Combined Authority.
• £186b in economic output or 10% of the UK total