Rolls-Royce plans new factories

Engine maker Rolls-Royce said it would build or extend four factories in Britain and open a new plant in Singapore, creating new jobs in both countries.

The British company plans to invest more than £300 million (Dh1.82 billion) in the UK where unemployment is running at the highest rate in 12 years. The government will contribute £45m towards the projects, which are expected to create or secure 800 jobs.

In Singapore, Rolls-Royce will build a new factory making wide chord fan blades (WCFB) for use in commercial aircraft engines. The plant will be alongside a facility testing and assembling Trent engines.

Total investment at the Seletar Campus site will now be about £300m and the new plant will create 500 new jobs, bringing the total number of people employed by the company in Singapore to about 2,000.

"This latest investment reflects our continuing confidence in Singapore as a place to locate high value-added manufacturing," John Rose, Chief Executive of Rolls-Royce, said in a statement.

In Britain, Rolls-Royce plans a new casting facility for turbine blades, a factory making discs used in fans and turbines, an extension to its existing WCFB facility and a new plant making components for nuclear power stations.

It will also invest in government-backed research into developing greener aircraft engines and research into more productive, environmentally friendly production techniques.

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