Tata Steel is to relocate its UK R&D work from Rotherham to a new centre at the University of Warwick — made possible by £8 million from the Regional Growth Fund.

A spokesman for Tata said: “The Swinden Technology Centre in Rotherham was created to best serve the needs of the steel industry several decades ago.

Today, the industry is much more customer-focused, and it is only right that Tata Steel reacts to that change to ensure it continues and strengthens its research capabilities by aligning them to market needs.

While the RGF-funded research has initially taken place at our R&D facility in Rotherham, we are now announcing it will be relocated to a facility at the University of Warwick.”

The spokesman added that the relocation was “not an overnight process. The relocation will take years, not months.”

R&D group director Debashish Bhattacharjee said: “We are strengthening our R&D in the UK to further develop technology and knowledge partnerships with customers, suppliers and universities. We want to meet the future demands of our customers who are asking for lighter, stronger and more-versatile steels.”