Gloucester-based Dowty Propellers (www.dowty.com), a leading manufacturer of aircraft propeller systems for both civil and military applications, has broken ground on a new manufacturing facility.

This will be the new headquarters as well as the production and repair facility for Dowty employees in the UK, who are currently working in interim facilities in the area.

The new facility — in Hucclecote — will incorporate the latest ‘Smart Factory’ technology. It is expected to be ready by the end of 2019, and staff will begin to transfer once it is operational.

In 2017, Dowty Propellers announced its decision to remain in the Gloucester area after a fire that destroyed its headquarters and blade manufacturing facility in February 2015.

Company president Oliver Towers said: “We’ve built a strong heritage in the area, and we are proud to continue our history of working in Gloucester.

“The new facility will allow us to operate in a bespoke environment that ensures we retain our position as a world leader in the design, development, manufacture and support of electronically controlled all-composite propeller systems.”

The company is also participating in a £20 million project to deliver capabilities for both propeller systems and future propulsion systems.

Called Digital Propulsion, the project is supported by the Aerospace Technology Institute; the partners include the UK’s National Composites Centre, the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre and the Manufacturing Technology Centre.