The Howmet Aerospace Ecclesfield works in Sheffield traces its roots to the city’s Victorian steel industry.

Its heritage began with Thomas Firth & Sons, founded in 1842, later becoming part of Firth Brown Steels and eventually Firth Rixson Metals, formally incorporated in 1914.
In the 70´s two manual rolling mills were installed here. The Johnson Lane plant became internationally known for producing specialist aerospace alloys, forgings and rolled metals for jet engines and industrial turbines.

Ownership passed from Firth Rixson to Alcoa in 2014, then to Arconic and finally Howmet Aerospace in 2020. In 2024, Howmet announced the closure of the Ecclesfield plant, ending more than a century of metals production at the site and marking another major loss for Sheffield’s historic steelmaking industry.