Advanced manufacturing that works in harmony with the environment

In Autumn 2021, Feritech Global opened its new £3million advanced manufacturing facility for business. The Feritech Innovation Centre near Falmouth in Cornwall will be one of the most advanced centres of its kind in the country. One of the plans Feritech have for the new facility is to play a prominent role in providing manufacturing and engineering services to the offshore wind sector, especially the development of floating offshore wind in the Celtic Sea.

Rob Ferris, MD of Feritech Global, says: “By starting with a ‘blank page’ for our new facility, we had the opportunity to take a radical approach to environmental sustainability. We were on a mission to prove that our industry can be environment-friendly. One of our key areas of business is the renewable energy sector, including offshore wind power. We firmly believe that, in future, the government, the public and progressive businesses will expect not only sustainable forms of green energy but also a ‘green supply chain’ to support them.

“We want Feritech to be a pioneer and role-model for these new 21st Century ways of operating as we move towards a Net Zero economy.”

That is why Feritech’s new innovation centre incorporates some effective special features:

• The site will harvest its own water, from boreholes that Feritech have drilled
• It will have a state of the art solar roof, combined with on-site power storage, and have its own wind turbines. This will generate more than enough electricity for Feritech’s needs and the surplus will be ‘exported’ to the grid
• Ground source heating will be used for the offices
• The site will have over 5,000 trees planted, to help it blend with its rural location and promote bio-diversity
• A pond will capture the surface run-off from the site. This will act as a heat store and provide vital new habitats for wildlife
• Feritech will carry out their own recycling on-site, which will include the composting of food waste from their catering facilities
• Feritech took a novel approach to the fencing and wind-breaks around the facility. Rather than ugly metal screens, they opted to plant thousands of blackthorn trees. What these provide is a natural, growing impenetrable fence. They also provide more habitats for local flora and fauna

Rob Ferris says: “As well as radically reducing our carbon footprint, this strategy also makes good financial sense. The more self-sufficient and sustainable our facility is, the more our overhead costs come down.

“At Feritech, we are by nature innovators, as is demonstrated by our ongoing stream of exciting new product developments. We are adopting the same pioneering spirit in the way we approach sustainability and we are putting environmental principles at the heart of our business.”