Production begins at newest Airedale plant in Bradford

Author: Simon Rowley

Airedale by Modine, a critical cooling specialist, today opened a new 14.6 acre production facility in Bradford, UK, in response to increasing demand from global data centre customers. Production of the first units began two months ahead of schedule.

The company secured the site on the outskirts of Bradford in May 2024 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 expected 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 centre. Once complete, the new R&D facility will expand Airedale by Modine’s overall testing capabilities and will see it 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 three to five years; approximately 10% of which are likely to be apprenticeship roles.

Adrian Trevelyan, Managing Director at Airedale by Modine, says, “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 centre operators, whose growth reflects the unfaltering demand for digital applications in society.”

Airedale by Modine has enjoyed continual growth in its global data centre business, in line with unabating demand for digital technology. This growth trend is predicted to continue, reflecting increasing worldwide demand for AI applications, which will see a move towards hybrid air/liquid cooling systems. As part of its global expansion strategy, Airedale by Modine now operates out of Leeds, Bradford and Consett in the UK; Guadalajara in Spain; Rockbridge, VA, Grenada, MS and Allen, TX in the US; and Calgary in Canada.

A video showing the new facility is available on YouTube and Vimeo.

For more from Airedale by Modine, click here.