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Rolls-Royce secures North East staff

A £1.2bn boost in orders has given job security to hundreds of North East engineering staff.

Rolls Royce, which employs 600 workers across the region, announced they had agreed to supply new engines for both Air China and Ethiopian Airlines fleets, at the Dubai Air Show.

While the manufacturing is not set to take place at either their Newcastle or Sunderland sites, a spokesperson for the firm said the “stability” and “security” the deals bring would benefit both plants.

The bulk of the work is expected to take place at Rolls Royce’s Derby plant, but the company hopes that as the popularity of its new technologies spread to sectors based in the North East more work can be secured for all those sites.

The firm currently employs 400 workers at its Pallion plant, Sunderland, and 200 as its Scotswood Road site in Newcastle.

A spokesperson said: “There is of course a benefit to the Rolls Royce group as a whole, which includes these sites.

“The technology we e coming out of the aerospace sector is something we hope to see cross over into other parts of the Rolls Royce family.

“When you have this sort of success with your orders it can only help. It’s all about stability.”

Air China has placed an order for the company’s Trent 700 engines to power 20 Airbus A330 aircraft, and the Ethiopian order covers Trent engines for 12 Airbus A350 wide-body planes that will begin service in 2017.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .