The East Midlands Development Agency (emda) has signed a contract with Laing O’Rourke, which will see a contribution of £4.65 million made towards the company’s multi-million pound remediation programme at Steetley, on the north Notts/Derbyshire border.

The new state-of-the-art Steetley facility, which started on site in July, will be the most advanced of its type in the UK. Producing pre-cast components, Steetley is at the heart of Laing O’Rourke’s commitment to increase the amount of modular components used on projects and through standardisation, contributes to the ‘The Laing O’Rourke Way’, a unique approach to project delivery. By reducing build times, costs and through the reduction in on-site labour, it also supports Incident and Injury Free (IIF) sites.

The facility will bring around 110 jobs during construction and up to 270 new skilled and semi-skilled jobs to a work-starved area.

emda is one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England, set up in 1999 to bring a regional focus to economic development.

The delivery of this new manufacturing facility has not only been supported by emda’s funding, provided through the European Union approved ‘Land Remediation Scheme’, but also through the sale of some of the land required for the facility and a new access road.

Laing O’Rourke’s Chief Operating Officer Tony Douglas said:” We are delighted to be working so collaboratively with emda and English Partnerships in delivering our shared goals of bringing sustainable regeneration to a part of the UK with such a proud industrial heritage.”

English Partnerships is the national regeneration agency helping the Government to support high quality sustainable growth in England by creating well-served mixed communities where people enjoy living and working.

Laing O’Rourke Local Director, John Moran, added: “This is an opportunity for real and lasting economic regeneration in an area which would clearly benefit from the scale of investment proposed. Skilled, full-time, manufacturing jobs will be created and we are keen to further deepen the roots we feel we have already begun to establish in this community.

“The scale of transformation and clean-up is already self-evident for anyone who casts their mind back to the unsafe, derelict and – at times – threatening environment we witnessed when we first established a presence here less than 18 months ago.

“We look forward to maintaining the pace of transformation and enabling regeneration in an area crying out for the economic stimulus this project brings.”

Commenting on the project, Jeff Moore, emda’s Chief Executive, said: “This is a fantastic scheme that will bring the derelict Steetley Colliery site back into use. emda has played a vital role in bringing key public and private sector partners together and, in addition, our contribution of £4.65 million to the remediation costs will pave the way for Laing O’Rourke’s new UK plant.

“Many of these will fall within the manufacturing sector, and this is particularly pleasing, since it demonstrates that the East Midlands continues to attract high-value manufacturing with world-class companies establishing facilities in the UK.

“We look forward to working with English Partnerships and Laing O’Rourke to make this exciting scheme a success. It will bring jobs and wealth to the area, contributing to our vision of making the East Midlands a flourishing region."