Newport is at the Forefront of the New Industrial Revolution

For generations, Newport has been renowned for its rich industrial heritage. It was once central to the world during the Industrial Revolution when iron and coal were shipped globally from its docks. Today, as a new industrial revolution dawns, Newport is at the forefront once again.

As the Member of Parliament for Newport East, I am continually amazed by the innovation and industry within our constituency. We manufacture and develop products of national and global significance, powering incredible projects and infrastructure, advancing technology, and creating the jobs of tomorrow right here in our city.

I have long championed Tata’s plant at Llanwern, proudly sharing that first-class automotive steel is finished at the plant, which finds its way into Jaguars, Land Rovers, Audis, and many other luxury car brands. The dedicated and highly skilled workforce there is a testament to the steel DNA that runs through the veins of Newport East.

While steel remains critical to national infrastructure plans, tech giants are building up around the city’s traditional industrial heart. These brilliant global companies power our day-to-day lives in a multitude of ways.

Take KLA, for example, which has been located in Newport East for more than 40 years. Developing the technology to build semiconductors, it never fails to amaze me that without the R&D happening at KLA on the Coldra Roundabout, the technology in our phones – which we all rely on so much – would not exist. Sitting at the roots of the city’s constantly growing, globally significant semiconductor cluster, KLA’s expansion in the city will see them increase employment to more than 1,000 people in Newport in good, skilled, well-paid jobs once its second site opens later this summer.

Another standout example of Newport’s globally significant manufacturing economy is EnerSys, which I had the pleasure of visiting in April. The company employs nearly 500 people locally and has the capacity to produce around 1 million battery blocks each year. These power everything from satellites and space launch vehicles to critical national defence infrastructure and other vital systems, both here in the UK and around the world.

It’s no exaggeration to say that Newport East is helping power the world through EnerSys. Even more impressive, the advanced battery technologies that give EnerSys products their exceptional performance and reliability have been developed and continually refined at the Newport facility over many years.

Recently, I was pleased to hear that Simec Atlantis Energy (SAE) has been successful in its bid for support from Cardiff Capital Region. This will allow them to progress to the next stage of development at their site at Uskmouth, transforming the old coal-fired power station into a battery energy storage solution, further driving the UK towards net zero by 2030. This hugely innovative and ambitious project of national significance will be one of the biggest battery energy storage sites in the UK. It will create hundreds of jobs and add an additional 1GW of capacity to the country’s energy infrastructure, enough to power almost 700,000 homes. This makes Newport an even more attractive prospect to hyperscalers and data centres. With all winds being fair, work on that site should commence in the next few months.

These are just three businesses in Newport East that are innovating, growing, and helping to change the city’s economic fortunes. They are just the tip of the iceberg across the wider city area. Wales’ only train manufacturer, CAF, is based here in Newport East. AerFin, specialist aviation company, recently moved its global operations to the city, siting its HQ on a redeveloped section of the steelworks site. The list goes on.

New industry and thousands of highly skilled jobs are developing here in Newport, all nationally and globally significant. Many are attracted by the transportation methods that led Newport’s boom in the first industrial revolution – rail and water – something which investors and developers regularly share with me is an asset and a key decider in making the choice to locate in Newport.

The Docks at Newport is one of the busiest ports in the country, handling around £1bn of trade each year. It is the biggest steel port in the UK and is set to undergo huge redevelopment to keep it modern and attractive to investors, importers, and exporters. Linked by the city’s rail lines to many industrial sites in Newport, this connectivity to the rest of the world via rail and sea makes our city highly attractive. Combine all of these factors with the fact that Newport is the fastest growing and youngest city (by population age) in Wales, and it’s easy to see why Newport stands primed, ready to power the world as the new data and clean energy-driven industrial revolution takes hold.