A new mechanical drives ‘centre of excellence’, opened by Siemens in Leeds earlier this year and involving a £1.2 million relocation, is now fully operational and poised for further growth.

The brand new facility specialises in assembly and servicing ofgear units, motors, geared motors and couplings used in rail transport, power generation and other large scale industrial applications.

Currently employing a 60-strong workforce, it is poised for further expansion to meet growing demand, particularly in the renewables sector with offshore wind and tidal power seen as offering major opportunities.

The 15,000 sq m unit in Stourton, Leeds, is an authorised service centre for Winergy, the world’s largest provider of wind turbine units, and is equipped with overhead cranes with a 25 tonne  lift capacity and a state of the art demonstration centre.

Siemens currently has 13 manufacturing sites in the UK and around 8,000 of the German-owned company’s UK workforce are employed in manufacturing and engineering across four key sectors of industry, infrastructure and cities, energy and healthcare.

Simon Nadin, general manager at the Leeds facility, said: “The new facility gives us the future proofing that will allow us to grow the business and we do have ambitious expansion plans.”

“The site now assembles, designs and develops drive train industrial transmission technology systems for applications such as water, aggregates, energy and transport.

“But it’s not just about products; our customers increasingly expect value generation around the packages that we tailor to their requirements.  The focus is now on energy and operational efficiency, service, maintenance and safety.”

The investment in Leeds is part of a strategic move into renewable energy technologies and complements plans for a major wind turbine plant being developed in partnership with Associated British Ports in Hull.