The first Boeing factory outside of the USA will be situated in Rotherham, in news that was welcomed by Rotherham City Council last month. As part of a multi-million pound investment which brings together Sheffield City Region and Boeing, the factory will be heading to the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District (AMID), and will provide new employment and supply chain opportunities to the local area.

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company, and initially the business will be partnering up with the AMRC to establish new manufacturing technology and methods as part of a research and development programme. Building for the factory is then expected to begin towards the end of 2018, and the facility will be used to produce components for commercial aircrafts.

This development follows the news that McLaren Automotive will be moving into Rotherham’s Advanced Manufacturing Park, which will only further cement Sheffield City Region’s position as a global centre for innovation-inspired advanced manufacturing.

Cllr Chris Read, Rotherham Council’s Leader, commented following the news, On top of the announcement two weeks ago that McLaren will be building a factory in Rotherham, this is yet more great news for the region. The decision by Boeing to site their factory in the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District will bring yet more highly skilled manufacturing jobs to our area. We’ll continue to work closely with our partners in Sheffield to bring more job opportunities and strengthen our economy for the future.

This joint investment is expected create half a billion of gross value added (GVA) on both a regional and national economic level, as well as of course the creation of hundreds of jobs both directly and as part of the supply chain. This is great news for the local area and the UK as a whole, so we can only hope for investments similar to this in the future!