Derby’s sprawling Rolls-Royce campus, employing 15,000 people, has been at the cutting edge of British industry for more than a century.
And it is in a 1920s block at the heart of the vast site that the FTSE 100 giant’s recent recovery has taken flight.
Rolls-Royce turned to the building, derelict for decades, when the firm’s Trent 1000 engines suffered major problems resulting in cracks and erosion.
Millions of pounds of investment later – but with its century-old roof and gantries still intact – the hangar was retooled for use in a major programme of engine upgrades as the company battled to fix the issue and restore its reputation.
It is the oldest part of the Derby site but symbolises Rolls-Royce’s stunning recovery as a powerhouse of UK industry under hard-charging chief executive Tufan Erginbilgic, who took over in 2023.
