The Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) near Rotherham is marking its 25th anniversary with the opening of a new facility, Compass, on the site of the former Orgreave colliery and coking works. Established to help revitalise South Yorkshire after the decline of the mining industry, the centre now brings leading academics together with major industrial partners such as Boeing and McLaren to solve manufacturing challenges, particularly in the aerospace, defence and nuclear sectors.

The new Compass facility produces eight-metre-long wing spars for single-aisle aircraft using five large robots, three of which are said to be the biggest of their kind in Europe, and will require as few as eight staff to run once fully operational. Boeing, an early AMRC partner, operates its only European manufacturing site there, producing flap-control parts for its 737 aircraft, and describes the centre as unusually responsive in turning research into practical production solutions.