Aeropace giant Rolls-Royce has confirmed that a planned business park and integrated new mainline train station on the outskirts of could be the ideal location for a major new hub operation with the potential to create thousands of new jobs.
It comes as Rolls-Royce has signed off on a first phase of investment in Cardiff, as part of a roll-out of a new Ministry of Defence contract delivering a new fleet of nuclear submarines for the Australian government. The site, at former offices occupied by Capita at Paramount Business Park, is expected to create nearly 200 high-skilled jobs.
However, Rolls Royce has now confirmed that the proposed Cardiff Parkway station on the South Wales Mainline, which will be at the heart of a new business district - Hendre Lakes - could be a site for significant expansion. Both projects, if approved, are close to its first phase office at St Mellons.
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In March it was confirmed that Rolls-Royce Submarines would provide reactors to power new attack submarines as part of the trilateral agreement between Australia, the 海角视频 and the US - the so called A海角视频US programme. The 海角视频 Government has awarded BAE Systems a 拢4bn contract to cover development work up to 2028, allowing it to start detailed design work on the submarines, which the Australian government has commissioned as a bulwark against what is seen as growing Chinese military power in south-east Asia.
Cardiff Parkway and Hendre Lakes, which over the long-term could see the building of 900,000 sq ft of new office, leisure and retail space, is being developed by Cardiff Parkway Developments. The has a minority 10% equity stake in the business, in which financial services giant Investec has the biggest equity interest. Support award-winning journalism with WalesOnline鈥檚 Premium app on or
A decision on both projects, following a report by an independent planning inspector, which was completed last year and submitted to the Welsh Government, was expected this month. However, as a result of updated Welsh Government planning policy, which has seen a strengthening of protections to sites of special scientific interest, the Welsh Government directed the re-opening of the planning hearing, which was held today.
Planning inspector from Planning and Environment Decisions Wales (PEDW), Tony Thickett, told the one day hearing that he planned to submit his findings to Welsh Government ministers by the end of the month. It is unclear whether the Welsh Government would make a final decision on both projects before the appointment of a First Minister at the end of March.
Rolls Royce鈥檚 support for the new mainline train station and integrated business district at St Mellons was submitted to the PEDW hearing, in the form of a supportive letter to leader of , Huw Thomas. Cardiff Council is backing both projects, having identified Hendre Lakes as a key new employment zone within its local development plan.
On the initial phase of investment at St Mellons, the letter to Mr Thomas, from Rolls-Royce says: 鈥淭he office will be one of two satellite offices alongside one in Scotland, which will allow us to access new talent pools to deliver our plans.鈥
However, Rolls-Royce has also confirmed the potential, as the A海角视频US contract is ramped up, for major expansion with a dedicated hub at Hendre Lakes. Plans to increase rail services from Bristol to South Wales, via Temple Meads and stopping at the proposed 拢120m Cardiff Parkway Station, underpin the attractiveness of the site for Rolls-Royce, as well as the security from being located in a secure out of city centre business location.
The letter adds: 鈥淲e selected our premises at St Mellons in Cardiff that meet our current needs, but also has expansion potential when the proposed Cardiff Parkway Station and business district come forward. Our demographic studies show that there is a talent pool in the region and a rail hub will extend our reach.
鈥淲e will be able to reach a considerably wider catchment area with sustainable transport access, with the further attraction of direct connectivity to our customers and suppliers in Bristol and London, along with links to Cardiff and universities. This vision of the Cardiff Parkway railway station and development makes your location attractive and is a key consideration in the potential expansion of our presence in Cardiff.鈥
Giving evidence to the Senedd鈥檚 Economy, Trade and Rural Affairs Committee last year, interim chair of Great British Nuclear (GBN) Simon Bowen, first confirmed Rolls-Royce鈥檚 interest in creating a major hub in Cardiff. He said that the wider nuclear sector in the 海角视频, with new nuclear power stations and a portfolio of small modular reactors (SMRs), had the potential to create more than 200,000 new jobs.
GBN was set up by the 海角视频 Government as an arm鈥檚 length body responsible for overseeing delivery of new nuclear projects, including the competition for the delivery of SMRs, which Rolls-Royce is a bidder for. On the job creation potential from new nuclear projects, both defence and civil, Mr Bowen said they were 鈥渂reathtaking鈥, while noting the challenge of ensuring a supply of required skilled workers.
The chairman said: 鈥淚 sit on the cross-government nuclear skills taskforce that was set up a few months ago because of the scale of the issue. This is not just a civil nuclear issue, it is a civil and defence issue, because the defence programme is growing so rapidly. Many of the skills, probably up to 80% that we鈥檒l need in the build phase, are not nuclear skills, and you鈥檙e competing with other infrastructure programmes.鈥
He added: 鈥淥ver the next 15 years, numbers vary from an extra 150,000 to 250,000, maybe up to 40,000 new engineers in the next five years. So, the numbers are enormous. The main areas that we鈥檙e focused on are PhDs, graduates and apprentices, and there鈥檚 going to have to be substantial investment to grow the capability across the 海角视频 in all three of those areas to probably double, if not treble, the number of PhDs and graduates particularly, and at least double the number of apprentices that we need to be developed.
"So, that鈥檚 a huge opportunity for the education establishments in Cardiff, Swansea, , and then where we might place the apprenticeship schools. So, anything we can do to encourage the universities to take on more graduate places, and for the Welsh Government and the 海角视频 Government to fund that - and that will come as part of our report - will be really important."
