BAE pulls plans for 440,000 sq ft Barrow submarine factory
The facility would have supported the development of some of the most advanced vessels ever operated by the Royal Navy.
However, BAE Systems has withdrawn plans for the 440,000 sq ft Ramsden Dock Facility less than six months after submitting an application for the scheme.
Last August, BAE tabled plans for the project with Westmorland and Furness Council.
A planning statement prepared by Savills that accompanied the application said the complex would support the “design, build, test, and commission of the most advanced submarines ever operated by the Royal Navy” and provide jobs for
In 2021, BAE was awarded an £85m contract by the Ministry of Defence to deliver the next generation of submarines.
The Ramsden Dock Facility would have been built on 17 acres off Dova Way and would have complimented operations at BAE’s Central Yard production facility to the north.
A BAE Systems spokesperson: “We continue to explore a range of options to support the ongoing expansion of our Barrow site and the delivery of the Royal Navy’s submarine programme.
“While the land at Dova Way was one of a number of potential locations we had considered, we have decided not to pursue this option at this time.”
How many jobs?
By Anonymous
Why was it pulled?
By Anonymous
Typical lack of investment by big industry, why put in proposals to build important facilities for long term construction use and then pull the plug . Just sums up the industry
By Anonymous
Maybe BAE systems discovered that they couldn’t recruit the right workforce, that government military focus was lost following Boris’s departure. Maybe they can read the runes and see that Trump and Putin won’t be going to war just yet, so no particular rush.
By Devil Slayer 24
Closure of steel plant. Another genius government decision.
By Anonymous
Barrow Council ask for x amount of money then wanted a lot more after finding out who was buying it ?
By Anonymous
I would suggest it,s because they can,t recruit the right kind of people to build the new class of submarines.Hence why they are now recruiting people with no.previous experience to.work as project engineers.Until.they go back to training people from the ground up and moving them up as they get more experience instead of parachuting people in from any walk of life they will never solve the problem.
By Anonymous
It was positioned by BAE as something that would add capacity to build insert modules and large components in the transition from Astute through Dreadnought to AUKUS, but needed to be up and running within two years to provide maximum benefit by letting them get ahead of schedule. Why they didnt proceed I dont know, whether its because they have decided to be more ambitious and add a second assembly hall rather than focussing just on the middle of the construction process, or whether it was due to the planning complaints (lot of people with houses on the island complaining about height while the council planning department was complaining about loss of car parking and lack of existing utilities connections to the land, for example for sewage) or the government not signalling just how many AUKUS subs they want to buy yet.
By Watcherzero
Because our labour councillors don’t want bae in the town and the greedy council put a figure up for the land and then 10 folded it wen bae were interested
By Anonymous