A seasoned engineering firm on the innovation circuit, FIRMA has made the bold move to locate their business to one of South Yorkshire’s most innovative engineering, research and manufacturing communities.
With a background in aerospace and R&D, acting at signatory level for Airbus, and with a wealth of engineering contracts under their belts, the three founding partners launched FIRMA back in 2013 and soon branched out, making a name for themselves in the nuclear decommissioning sector whilst maintaining their core business contracts.
In 2017 FIRMA hired their first employee – a Principal Engineer, brought into the fold to deliver key contracts as the business grew from strength to strength. And in 2019 the ambitious SME took their first graduate apprentice through the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC) graduate apprentice scheme. With three year’s specialised training under their belt, their newest team member has just been awarded a 1st Class Honours Degree and has secured a position as Mechanical Engineer with FIRMA,
Founded in Doncaster, FIRMA has been looking for the ideal workspace to relocate to and continue their growth journey. Co-founder and Managing Director, Alan Longfield explained:
“We needed something specific which, as we discovered, can be a challenge for more traditional workspace providers. We needed to invest in an office space and workshop. We already have relationships, collaborations and partnerships running with other occupiers in the AMP Technology Centre, across the Advanced Manufacturing Park and within the wider Innovation District Network. The choice of the centre as a base enables us to get the full benefit of proximity to the people and programmes that exist on site. This move puts us right at the heart of all the action.”
FIRMA has a passion for innovation, which has attracted funding and led to the delivery of groundbreaking projects through both Innovate UK and Game Changer schemes. They have previously partnered with the University of Sheffield on the control systems of nuclear decommissioning drones.
Now solving a significant challenge working at height in the hazardous environment space using their Flexible Interchangeable Reconfigurable Mechanical Arm (FIRMArm), locally, they have long established working relationships with mechanical engineers who manufacture and fabricate for the products that FIRMA design, assemble and test from their new AMP Technology Centre base.
FIRMA delivers expertise across a range of mechanical engineering industries. In addition to aerospace and nuclear, this includes emerging technologies, renewables, civils and tooling. As an agile SME they are able to flex to the needs of the client and the project, scaling up through trusted partnerships to bring new solutions to market.
Following their move to AMP Technology Centre this month, the team plan to continue their growth and take their next AMRC apprentice in September 2023.