Rolls-Royce Awards Multi-Million Pound Contract to McLaughlin & Harvey for New Facility in Bristol

July 21, 2026

Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR., ADR: RYCEY) today announced it has selected McLaughlin & Harvey for a contract award in excess of £100m for the construction of a new customer-funded facility at the existing Bristol, UK, site. The facility will provide a dedicated space for research, manufacturing, and assembly, creating significant capability for new product development for the future of air combat.

Rolls-Royce (LSE: RR., ADR: RYCEY) today announced it has selected McLaughlin & Harvey for a contract award in excess of £100m for the construction of a new customer-funded facility at the existing Bristol, UK, site. The facility will provide a dedicated space for research, manufacturing, and assembly, creating significant capability for new product development for the future of air combat.

Scheduled to break ground later in 2026, the contract award marks the moment to accelerate the facility from final design towards the start of construction. This is a pivotal moment in the re-development of the Bristol site, providing a key capability to keep Rolls-Royce at the forefront of future combat air technology advancements.

Paul Pennington, Senior Vice President of Infrastructure, Defence, Rolls-Royce, said: "We are very pleased to be announcing the contract award to McLaughlin & Harvey. This complex facility is a physical manifestation of our commitment to novel technology and agile ways of working.

“By embedding our previous learnings, we are creating a space for state-of-the-art technology development, to ensure we meet our ambitious customer commitments while future-proofing our capabilities for decades to come.”

Built as a connected and digital-first facility, it will accelerate the pace and drive efficiencies across research, test and manufacturing while allowing high-tech and innovative technology development. It will foster an agile way of working, with state-of-the-art infrastructure that ensures we can develop and grow our capabilities for decades to come.

Dougie McCusker, Construction Director at McLaughlin & Harvey, said:"We have a longstanding partnership with Rolls-Royce and have completed two advanced manufacturing projects for them. Our Midlands and South West team will draw on this past experience and broader expertise in complex manufacturing environments to support the client in building a state-of-the-art manufacturing and assembly facility in Bristol.”

When operational, the facility will future-proof the capability in Bristol for the required developments for combat air of the future. The development is underpinned by ongoing enabling work to improve safety, security, and resilience across the site.

Source : Rolls-Royce