History
Ferodo House was the home of Element Sheffield - ‘one of the UK's leading, UKAS accredited metallurgical materials testing laboratories that offers a comprehensive range of Materials Testing and Mechanical Engineering services to the Industrial sectors’. They vacated on June 7, 2017, moving their 40 staff to larger premises elsewhere in Sheffield: ‘Element Materials Technology has completed the relocation of its Sheffield laboratory to a new state-of-the-art facility specializing in Materials Testing for the Aerospace and Medical Device sectors.’
Source: https://www.element.com
The company was acquired by Bridgepoint from 3i Group for an undisclosed sum at the end of 2015. It has 34 laboratories in the US and 19 across Europe. It serves a longstanding customer base of over 10,000 aerospace, oil & gas and transportation companies worldwide. The business generates annual revenues of c.$290m.
‘Element works with its customers to ensure that the materials systems and products that are in use in some of the world's most advanced industrial applications are safe, comply with relevant industry standards and are fit for purpose. This involves testing a material, part, product or weld from a production line to destruction.’
Source: http://www.rothbiz.co.uk/2016/07/news-4983-testing-firm-make-magna-move.html
Prior to this the company was known as Sheffield Testing Laboratories Ltd (1988 - 2012) limited, providing mechanical and materials testing, and calibration services. It offered mechanical testing services for fasteners, metal scaffolding couplers, scaffolding tubes, weldments etc. From 1903 - 1988 the company was known as The Sheffield Testing Works Ltd.
The visit
A solo visit. Disappointingly the whole site is pretty much stripped. While there are small hints at the history of the building, most features seem to have been removed during what looks like a fairly contemporary refurb. However, this was bigger than expected and not a bad quiet, early-morning mooch, chasing the few original remnants of the building’s past.
Having found this ladies sanitary towel incinerator early on I was hoping for more along these lines, but unfortunately this was one of the few items remaining, old or new...
Here’s an old ad for the thing (or at least a similar model)...
https://www.gracesguide.co.uk/File:Im19490617ABN-AlliedMetals.jpg
In fact the toilets were pretty much the only place where original flooring and tiles had survived the refurb...
Rude...
Over the bridge connecting the two buildings...
Reception...
Large warehouse space...
Now sling ur hook...
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