British Steel has announced the opening of a new £26-million service centre, solidifying its position as one of the world’s leading suppliers to the forklift truck mast industry. The investment has been made at the Special Profiles business in Skinningrove, North East England, which specialises in manufacturing steel profiles for the earthmoving, forklift, construction, shipbuilding, and mining sectors.
The new facility will enable the exploration of global growth opportunities for both standard and bespoke forklift mast profiles, with the new warehousing and processing capabilities set to significantly increase throughput over the next two years.
This investment represents the largest single commitment to the Special Profiles business in over 30 years, demonstrating the ongoing dedication to strengthening British Steel’s position within the UK manufacturing sector. The new facility also positions the company as one of the world’s leading manufacturers and processors of value-added profiles for the forklift industry. The expanded product range is designed and manufactured to meet exact customer requirements, with new milling capabilities offering profiles with tolerances of just 0.1mm—precision few global competitors can match.
The milling capability will primarily serve the demanding high-reach forklift truck market, where vehicles operate at heights of up to 8 metres, requiring exceptionally tight tolerances for the mast sections. The Skinningrove Service Centre includes four new CNC lathes for turning mill rolls, three automated bandsaws for cutting stock to precise lengths, a laser measurement system for process control of every bar rolled, and a warehousing system for storing and processing material from the rolling mill. It also features one of the largest-capacity, 14-metre bed milling machines in the world, enabling the delivery of precise customer requirements to very tight tolerances.
The new manufacturing hub has been built at the heart of the Skinningrove site, which has been operational for over 150 years. The investment in this state-of-the-art facility, alongside highly skilled colleagues, ensures the continued delivery of market-leading products for many years to come.
