Member Article

Nottingham engineers set to grow

Romax Technology, an international gearbox, bearing and driveline engineering specialist, is set to move into new premises at the University of Nottingham’s Innovation Park (UNIP).

The company aim to create 100 new jobs in Nottingham and the UK over the next three to five years, having experienced high growth at around 20% per annum on average.

Currently based at the Nottingham Science Park, Romax, which employs 105 staff in the UK, has outgrown its current premises.

The new, purpose built, 3100m² premises at UNIP will incorporate offices, a training suite and laboratory space, and will allow Romax to bring all of their UK staff under one roof, with space to grow.

It is the first bespoke commercial development at the park, the cost of which has been £5.6m.

The building will reflect Romax’s green focus by using sustainable technologies such as biomass heating, building heat recovery and reuse, solar shading and a biodiverse green roof; with the aim of achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating.

Dr Peter Poon, founder and CEO of Romax said: “I am delighted to be signing this lease. The University of Nottingham Innovation Park is a great location for Romax.

“Not only does it offer us a purpose built facility with excellent campus services, it also maintains strong links with the University, which is important to us, as they share our ethos for innovation.

“This expansion enables us to continue to develop our simulation technology and drivetrain design business and, in addition, we will also be able to create high quality jobs for the local area.

“This in turn will help us to accelerate the development of our exciting portfolio of new products and services, especially those focused on wind energy.”

Romax has previously undertaken a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University, as well as collaborating on major energy and aerospace research projects and providing placement and full-time employment opportunities for university students.

The two organisations were also instrumental in helping to persuade Changan Automobile, the Chinese car manufacturer, to establish its European R&D centre in Nottingham.

Speaking at the signing of the agreement with Romax, Professor David Greenaway, Vice-Chancellor of the University of Nottingham, said: “To have Romax based at the University of Nottingham Innovation Park is anexciting prospect.

“Romax is a world class business which will be undertaking cutting edge development work here and creating many new jobs in the process.

“This commitment also further cements the exceptionally strong links that The University of Nottingham already has with Asia in general and China in particular.

“I am sure that both Romax and the University will benefit greatly from our continued close partnership.”

Earlier this year, Romax announced an investment partnership with Moonray Investors, which will enable the company to accelerate the development of existing and new technologies in the wind power and transportation sectors and achieve their target growth rate of up to 40%.

Alongside the Romax development, The University of Nottingham Innovation Park has already seen other significant investments this year, the most recent being GSK’s £12m Centre for Excellence in Sustainable Chemistry, which was announced in April.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .