2 min read - 6 May, 2026
Steelwork assembly starts on UK’s largest open die forge
Steel giant Sheffield Forgemasters has begun steelwork assembly on the UK’s largest open die forging line.
The Ministry of Defence-owned business, which is celebrating its 250th anniversary, is building a new 13,000-tonne forging line at its Brightside site, with steelwork for the building projecting to 45 metres high, more than ten metres taller than surrounding structures.
With steelwork for the company’s 30,000 m² new machine shop on nearby Weedon Street at an advanced stage, the construction works are transforming the traditional manufacturing heartland of the city, dwarfing the adjacent Meadowhall shopping centre and Ikea superstore.
Both projects form the backbone of a £1.3bn recapitalisation programme to underpin UK defence programmes. Key partners on the programme include McLaughlin & Harvey, Arup, Bond Bryan, Turner and Townsend, JLL, Ipsum and JBA Bentley.
Sheffield Forgemasters has begun steelwork assembly on the UK’s largest open die forge / Picture: Sheffield Forgemasters
Gareth Barker, chief operating officer at Sheffield Forgemasters, said: “We are now at an exciting phase of our £1.3 billion recapitalisation programme, where the physical reality of what we are delivering for the city starts to manifest.
“With the new machine shop and forge programmes on schedule, we can expect to see framework for both buildings completed by the end of the year, with external cladding underway ahead of the winter.
“The new forge will bring a dramatic increase in capacity and capability for the manufacture of highly complex, large-scale forged components required for UK defence programmes and for civil nuclear developments.
“With a secure future, we are in a position to deliver new levels of nuclear-grade manufacturing as we train our employees and apprentices to adopt the latest technologies and expand the parameters of what can be achieved with state-of-the-art equipment.”
Sheffield Forgemasters was formed in 1983 with the merger of Johnson, Firth Brown, and British Steel’s River Don Works on Brightside Lane in Sheffield, where the Naylor, Hutchinson Vickers & Co enterprise was located in 1863, having previously operated at Millsands in the city centre.
The company has traced its heritage back to 1776, the year of American independence, when George Naylor helped his cutlery manufacturing partnership move into steelmaking through the construction of a crucible steel furnace in the city.
Sheffield Forgemasters still operates from the River Don Works site and is expanding onto the former William Jessop & Sons’ Brightside Steel Works at Weedon Street, where the new machine shop will be located, housing 24 new machines, including some of the world’s largest vertical turning lathes.
