£250 million deal secures 1,000 local jobs

WOOD Nuclear, which employs 1,000 people in Warrington, has been acquired by the Jacobs Engineering Group, an American-owned international engineering group, for £250 million.
Jacobs already employ about 250 people in Warrington and another 850 in Manchester working on nationally important projects for Sellafield Ltd, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority, the Environment Agency, Highways England, Network Rail, and other clients in the North West.
Wood also employ 250 at Knutsford and the acquisition means Jacobs will have a UK workforce of around 11,000 with plans to recruit up to 400 more in highly-skilled jobs over the next year.
The combined team in the North West supports projects and programmes across nuclear and defence, transportation, environmental, buildings and other sectors.
Jacobs’ plans also include investment in the UK.’s largest independent nuclear research, development and testing facilities at Birchwood Park, Warrington, to provide capability such as remote handling, cyber, inspection technology capabilities and test rig facilities.
The acquisition expands Jacobs’ UK. employee base to nearly 11,000 and increases access to specialist talent – particularly in locations across Cheshire and Cumbria, as well as expanded reach into Europe, Japan, Middle East, South Africa and the US.
Clive White, Jacobs’ critical mission solutions international senior vice president, said: “We’re delighted to bring the significant expertise of the Warrington and Manchester Wood Nuclear team into Jacobs
“The existing knowledge of the team, combined with the new investment in Birchwood Park, will secure the area’s status as a world-class nuclear hub and opportunities for local talent. We look forward to making the integration process as smooth as possible for our teams and are excited to develop together as a business that is even better equipped to solve the problems of the future.”