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Lontra launches £6m global services business in Sheffield
Lontra, a world pioneer in advanced engineering technologies, has launched a new £6m high-value services business in partnership with the Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP). This follows the recent opening of its new Blade Compressor® Factory in Napton, Warwickshire.
The new facility at Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre will take service models to the next level. The 10-demonstrator machines, funded by the LEP, will use advanced artificial intelligence techniques and sensoring systems to allow Lontra’s customer’s machines to be controlled and monitored globally.
Each machine forms a hub for complete care asset management for process systems throughout the factory. This reduces maintenance costs, unscheduled outages and reduces energy bills for customers.
Lontra has launched a £6m high-value global services business at the AMRC in Sheffield / Picture: Lontra
Steve Lindsey, CEO, Lontra, said: “This is the start of an ambitious programme to build our digital services business globally. This new and exciting opportunity will generate ongoing jobs and revenues from the export of manufactured goods. These jobs can be anywhere and it makes sense to put them in places like Sheffield where there are an abundance of skilled workers. This forms part of a wider drive to use digital technology to enhance productivity and improve the efficiency of the UK manufacturing sector.”
James Muir, Chairman of the Sheffield LEP, added: “Steve is a well-known entrepreneur and we welcome his significant high value manufacturing business to Sheffield. Lontra will be joining other high value manufacturers on our park including Rolls-Royce, Boeing and McLaren.”
Lontra is working towards a collaborative UK industry and government £70m investment proposal to expand its research, development, manufacturing and assembly capability further in the Midlands and the North, developing 1000’s of high value jobs and careers. Currently 80% of Lontra’s rapidly growing manufacturing and services products can be exported from the UK to key markets including the US and UAE.
The Lontra Blade Compressor® is the first clean-sheet compressor design in over 80 years and can be used across many sectors such as aerospace, automotive, food and beverage, pharmaceutical manufacture and water treatment. It is proven to be 21% more efficient than the next competitor, offering incredible energy savings along with big improvements in reliability.