Leeds-headquartered critical cooling specialists Airedale by Modine has opened a 14.6-acre factory in Bradford in response to increasing demand from global data centre customers.
Airedale by Modine secured the site on the outskirts of Bradford in May this year and has since reconfigured the space for the manufacturing and testing of computer room air handlers and fan wall units. An existing facility in Leeds will focus on chiller production. Between the two sites, overall UK data centre production capacity is expecting to increase by 150%.
In addition to increased production capability, plans for the site include the construction of a state-of-the-art fan wall test center. Once complete, the new R&D facility will expand Airedale by Modine’s overall world-class testing capabilities and will see them welcome customers from across the globe for factory acceptance tests.
Further job creation to support longer term growth at the Bradford plant was forecasted by the company back in May, with a projection of over 200 highly skilled production and support roles being created over the next 3 to 5 years; approximately 10% of which are likely to be apprenticeship roles.
Adrian Trevelyan, MD at Airedale by Modine, said: “The opening of the new Airedale by Modine manufacturing facility in Bradford marks an important milestone for our organisation. With significantly increased capacity, we can offer extensive support to the development strategies of data center operators, whose growth reflects the unfaltering demand for digital applications in society.”
