International metals, industrials and engineering group, Liberty House, has signed a multi-million-pound partnership with the prestigious research centre, the Materials Processing Institute, designed to accelerate the growth of the business through innovation.
Liberty House Group, which is already the UK’s fastest-growing industrial enterprise with 5,500 employees, aims to use the Materials Processing Institute’s leading technical and scientific expertise to help it develop advanced manufacturing processes and a new generation of products across its plants in the UK and Australia.
The deal will reportedly see the flagship North of England-based innovation centre provide a range of research services to the steel industry giant to help achieve its GREENMETAL vision for competitive, low-carbon, steel and aluminium production.
The Institute will help deliver large scale operational efficiency improvements, as well as product and process capability enhancements to Liberty’s operations.
The agreement covers three major research programmes to support the growth and development of the Liberty business.
One programme is targeted at Liberty’s Speciality Steels business, based in Stocksbridge near Sheffield, which will benefit from a research programme to enhance capability of super high-quality engineering and aerospace steels.
Another project will target the Liberty OneSteel business in Australia, with a focus on process efficiency improvement, cost reduction, quality and output.
The final strand of the agreement covers the development of an integrated supply chain for high-value plate and offshore steels, made at the Liberty plate mill at Dalzell in Scotland.
Chief executive of Liberty House UK steel division, Jon Bolton explained: “Metal production is a tough, competitive market, but we intend to play an increasingly prominent role in the sector by developing high-value-added products using the most efficient, low-carbon and integrated processes.
“Through this exciting contract for innovation, the Materials Processing Institute will play a key role in helping us to achieve that. We have already developed a productive working relationship with the Institute and we are delighted to formalise this into a partnership that we believe with forge major new growth possibilities for the business.”
The Materials Processing Institute is an independent, not-for-profit, UK based research and innovation centre, working with industrial clients in advanced materials, low carbon energy and the circular economy.
The Institute has a global reputation for innovation in steel, partnering with many of the leading companies in the industry and undertaking research projects for the major steel clients around the world.