{"id":4522,"date":"2026-07-24T05:04:07","date_gmt":"2026-07-24T05:04:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/4522\/"},"modified":"2026-07-24T05:04:07","modified_gmt":"2026-07-24T05:04:07","slug":"rolls-royce-to-build-huge-100m-factory-in-filton-to-support-defence-industry","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/4522\/","title":{"rendered":"Rolls-Royce to build huge \u00a3100m factory in Filton to support defence industry"},"content":{"rendered":"

It will be used to design, assemble and test engines\"bristolpost\"<\/p>\n

05:56, 24 Jul 2026<\/p>\n

\"Rolls<\/p>\n

Rolls Royce, Filton(Image: Simon Galloway \/ Local World)<\/p>\n

Rolls-Royce has unveiled plans to build a major new research and manufacturing facility in Filton<\/a>. The aerospace giant is investing \u00a3100m in the factory and research hub, which will be dedicated to designing, assembling and testing engines for the defence sector.<\/p>\n

The building will be located within the company’s current Gipsy Patch Lane site and will be used to create new products for future air combat, according to Rolls-Royce.<\/p>\n

Belfast-based construction company McLaughlin & Harvey, which has previously delivered two other projects for Rolls-Royce, has won the contract to build the facility, with the firm’s Midlands and South West divisions undertaking this latest project.<\/p>\n

Paul Pennington, senior vice president of infrastructure and defence for Rolls-Royce, said: “We are very pleased to be announcing the contract award to McLaughlin and Harvey. This complex facility is a physical manifestation of our commitment to novel technology and agile ways of working.<\/p>\n

“By embedding our previous learnings, we are creating a space for state-of-the-art technology development, to ensure we meet our ambitious customer commitments while future-proofing our capabilities for decades to come.”<\/p>\n

Rolls-Royce said the cutting-edge facility would “accelerate the pace and drive efficiencies” throughout research, testing and manufacturing while enabling new technology development, according to our sister site Business Live<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Dougie McCusker, construction director at McLaughlin & Harvey, said: “Our Midlands and South West team will draw on this past experience and broader expertise in complex manufacturing environments to support the client in building a state-of-the-art manufacturing and assembly facility in Bristol.”<\/p>\n

Rolls-Royce said that once operational, the facility will “future-proof” the Filton site by providing “the required developments” for future air combat capabilities.<\/p>\n

“The development is underpinned by ongoing enabling work to improve safety, security, and resilience across the site,” the company added.<\/p>\n

The announcement arrives just a month after former Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer revealed a \u00a315bn defence spending package for the UK.<\/p>\n

In June, Rolls-Royce shares soared as investors flocked to the main beneficiaries of the government’s Defence Investment Plan.<\/p>\n

The manufacturer, which also operates a UK facility in Derby, is one of the top suppliers to the Ministry of Defence, producing engines for the Royal Air Force’s C-130 Hercules and the Eurofighter Typhoon.<\/p>\n

It also engineers and constructs the nuclear reactors powering the Vanguard and Astute submarines, which carry Britain’s nuclear deterrent and maintain continuous patrols at sea.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It will be used to design, assemble and test engines 05:56, 24 Jul 2026 Rolls Royce, Filton(Image: Simon…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":4523,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[2107,14,2633,86],"class_list":["post-4522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news","tag-armed-forces","tag-defence-industry","tag-filton","tag-ministry-of-defence"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/defence\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}