Insider Media Limited

Rolls-Royce has told workers it is weighing up building a new facility outside of the UK, according to reports. It comes as the Derby manufacturing giant Rolls-Royce has also submitted plans for two factory developments totalling 475,000 sq ft (44,000 sq m) on the Advanced Manufacturing Park in South Yorkshire.

Rolls-Royce is conducting a feasibility study into the possibility of building a new engine testing facility in Germany or the US rather than the UK, the Observer reported.

However, Rolls-Royce said the company will continue to build the Trent XWB engines for Airbus A350 aircraft at its Centre of Excellence in Derby.

"Rolls-Royce is investing billions of pounds, in the UK and around the world, so that it can keep up with customer demand and fulfil its £60bn order book", a spokesman said.

"This will sustain jobs at Rolls-Royce as well as in the hundreds of British companies in our supply chain.

Adrian Axtell, Unite regional secretary for the East Midlands, said the decision to go abroad would potentially have "long-term implications for Derby's manufacturing base".

"Work follows the experimental test-beds and a significant number of jobs in Derby are linked to development projects," he told the paper.

"Rolls-Royce, with the support of the Government, need to do everything possible to maintain its development projects in Derby in the long term."

Axtell likened the news to the recent job losses at Bombardier and said the news created "uncertainties" that "show why the government should support Bombardier when it can instead of allowing the work to go to Germany".

A planning application has also been submitted to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council following a public consultation by Rolls-Royce. One of the factories will manufacture, assemble and test components for civil nuclear power stations.

The other factory will make turbine blades for Rolls-Royce's high-thrust engines.

Rolls-Royce said the South Yorkshire projects are initially planned to employ approximately 350 members of staff on opening. A third, smaller factory is also proposed, which could house one of Rolls-Royce's suppliers.

The South Yorkshire AMP Technology Centre currently houses a Rolls-Royce research and development facility, while the business is a partner in the University of Sheffield's Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) with Boeing, has the title name at the AMRC's Rolls Royce Factory of the Future and is a partner in the Nuclear AMRC.

In 2009, Rolls-Royce announced plans to extend its UK manufacturing capability by building new advanced facilities.