Wind turbine tower firm creates 240 jobs in Chepstow

Mabey Bridge says it hopes to make around half the UK's requirement for wind turbine towers

A firm making towers for wind turbines is creating 240 jobs and investing £38m in its base in Monmouthshire.

Mabey Bridge, which already employs 400 at Chepstow and also Gloucestershire, said the project would create hundreds of skilled and technical posts.

The firm is part of the Mabey Group, a private family-owned group with a £150m turnover and nearly 1,000 employees.

It said the investment would make it the biggest UK manufacturer of wind turbine onshore and offshore towers.

Mabey Bridge has a turnover of £70m and has factories in Chepstow and Lydney, Gloucestershire.

It can trace its history back to the construction of Brunel's Wye railway bridge in 1849.

Green jobs just like these will be central to the future of the Welsh economy Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones

Peter Lloyd, managing director of Mabey Bridge, said: "This is a significant announcement which will provide a massive boost for the local economy, creating hundreds of jobs.

"We are forecasting that production at the facility will provide around half the UK's requirement for wind turbine towers, greatly reducing the need for developers to import."

Mabey Bridge recently purchased an industrial unit, along with 18 acres of land, at Newhouse Farm distribution park in Chepstow for £13m.

The firm said it had lodged a planning application with Monmouthshire Council to double the size of the existing warehouse to allow for a new fabrication facility for the towers.

Mabey Bridge said it "already has a number of relationships" with major wind turbine manufacturers, so the factory will be able to run at full capacity "in a relatively short period of time".

One of the Chepstow warehouses that will be part of the new facility to fabricate the turbine towers

Deputy First Minister Ieuan Wyn Jones said: "Green jobs just like these will be central to the future of the Welsh economy.

"These are highly skilled jobs that will provide a boost to the local economy while showing once again that manufacturing is still central to Wales."

"This strategy will be an important component in stimulating the recovery from recession - as well as strengthening our commitment to combat the causes and impacts of climate change."

Conservative MP for Monmouth David Davies welcomed the announcement.

"The firm's multimillion-pound investment in manufacturing wind turbine towers at its new Chepstow facility will provide a huge boost for the local economy," he added.

"It is far better to see wind turbines being made locally rather than being imported from abroad."