Royal Mint to spend £16.5m on expanding production facilities

The Royal Mint today announced plans to spend £16.5m on expanding its production facilities at its site in Llantrisant, south Wales.

The planned construction of two new nickel-plating production facilities and an effluent plant will double the mint's nickel-plating production capacity, in its biggest new investment for 40 years.

The first phase of the new development is due to be completed by September.

The Royal Mint decided to accelerate its five-year growth plan to capitalise on opportunities in the nickel-plated coin marketplace both at home and abroad.

The organisation, which is more than 1,000 years old, was for 500 years based at the Tower of London before moving in 1812 to London's Tower Hill and thence to the Llantrisant site in 1967.