A programme director has been appointed by Jacobs for an innovative new scheme which aims to tap into the potential of firms supplying Sellafield.
John Maddison has taken on the role for the Industrial Solutions Hub.
Known as ISH, the project is led by Copeland Borough Council and backed by Sellafield Ltd and the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, and aims to help businesses based in West Cumbria to grow and develop new markets in the UK and overseas.
Mr Maddison said: “Bringing together world-leading decommissioning skills and capabilities from Sellafield Ltd and its supply chain, our aim is to create a geographical cluster of businesses that will transform the economic prospects of West Cumbria and become a significant export earner for the UK.
“This will build more resilience into the local economy and make it less reliant on the Sellafield site.”
Copeland mayor Mike Starkie added: “As part of our post-pandemic recovery, this is a tremendous opportunity to attract new companies, new jobs and much needed regeneration to this area and provide a payback on the public investment which has gone into Sellafield over the years.”
Copeland Council and the Cumbria Local Enterprise Partnership have acquired the Leconfield Industrial Estate in Cleator Moor.
ISH will create a new campus at Leconfield as a hub for the new initiative and will support companies throughout West Cumbria.
Regeneration of the area is being supported by a £22.5 million grant from the Government’s Towns Fund.
ISH is supporting several pathfinder projects involving the use of robotics, automation, artificial intelligence and digitisation to create safer and lower cost systems for dismantling nuclear facilities, waste handling and asset management. Many of these systems have broader applications in other industrial sectors, thus increasing their export potential.
As director of engineering development, Mr Maddison headed Jacobs’ growing business.
To build on this success, last year Jacobs opened a new Engineering and Technology Centre on the Beckermet Industrial Estate, which now serves the nearby Sellafield nuclear site and companies in its supply chain.
Read about the £14 bid submitted to the Government to create the Industrial Solutions Hub here.
