London gains largest factory since Second World War

London gains largest factory since Second World War

Matt Oliver

Mon, September 14, 2026 at 4:38 PM GMT+3 3 min read

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A British start-up has opened London's biggest factory since the Second World War as rearmament creates new work for defence manufacturers.

Isembard said the 160,000-square-foot facility would use cutting-edge technology to make components for major customers, including Babcock, Anduril and Tekever.

The company specialises in making high-precision metal components for defence equipment, including drones, military aircraft and robotic systems.

The factory in Southwark is expected to employ around 200 workers by the end of 2027 and will also serve as Isembard's global headquarters as it expands abroad.

The opening is a boost to Andy Burnham's push to "reindustrialise" Britain at a time when the Government is also seeking to rebuild the defence industrial base.

Higher defence spending across Europe is spurring demand for new weapons, ammunition and vehicles as the Nato alliance seeks to deter a war with Russia.

Alexander Fitzgerald, Isembard's founder, said: "Manufacturing is the origin of our security, prosperity and sense of purpose as nations.

"No one has opened a factory like this in London since the Second World War and that tells you how far our industrial base has been allowed to shrink."

He added: "Bringing production back onshore is the work of the next decade. What we need now are the brightest engineering minds of our generation to join us."

'Erosion of industrial capacity'

Jonathan Reynolds, the Business Secretary, welcomed the announcement, adding: "This is exactly what reindustrialising Britain is all about. Bringing manufacturing back into the UK, backing our critical industries and creating highly skilled jobs across the country.

"It is my mission to create the conditions that businesses need to invest and expand in the UK, to drive growth and opportunity in every postcode.

"This exciting news from Isembard marks a huge vote of confidence in that ambition."

Isembard was founded in 2025 by Mr Fitzgerald, an Army reservist and former telecoms entrepreneur, to help support Western rearmament.

According to Isembard, small businesses including family-run machine shops currently account for 95pc of component manufacturing, but are "rapidly disappearing" with the average owner being 65 years old or above – and two fifths planning to retire within five years.

"This erosion of industrial capacity is colliding with surging demand from aerospace, defence, energy and robotics companies driven by re-shoring and rising spending on critical industries," the company said.

But using a combination of in-house software and modern factory machines, Mr Fitzgerald has argued that the British company can step in to fill this gap and even produce advanced components more cheaply than its rivals in China.

Isembard runs its own factories but also a franchised network of factories that all use its proprietary MasonOS software.

The company has gone from four sites at the start of last year to 16 as of Monday, including new factories in France and Germany.

It is targeting 100 in the UK alone by the end of 2028, an expansion that it says will create 2,200 highly-skilled jobs.

Isambard's new base in Southwark is close to where Isambard Kingdom Brunel – the engineer who inspired the company's differently spelt name — spent his early career digging the Thames Tunnel out from Rotherhithe.

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