MintMech’s New Penryn Centre Wants to Keep Cornish Engineers Home

Plenty of engineers trained in Cornwall end up building careers on the other side of the world. A new facility in Penryn is betting it can give some of them a reason to stay closer to home.

MintMech, the Penryn-based specialist engineering company, has officially opened a new site at Kernick Industrial Estate. The Automation Manufacturing and Engineering Centre, known as AMEC, lets the firm take on more complex and integrated work across marine construction, offshore wind and mining.

Everything under one roof

The point of AMEC is to bring the whole job into one place. MintMech can now run a project from analysis and design through to build and commissioning without the work moving between sites. The company delivers complete mechanical and hydraulic systems and commissions them on projects in the UK and around the world.

Director and cofounder Jack Berryman said the new headquarters marks a turning point for the company.

“MintMech turns eight this August and our new headquarters marks a major milestone in the next chapter of what we do. It represents a step up in how we deliver projects. Through AMEC, we now bring analysis, design, build and commissioning together under one organisation.”

The site spans roughly 750 square metres and combines a 30-seat design engineering office with workshop and yard space.

Keeping talent in Cornwall

AMEC sits a ten-minute walk from the Tremough campus, and MintMech wants that proximity to feed into how it grows the next generation of engineers.

Director and cofounder Laurie Thornton pointed to the number of skilled people who train in the county and then leave it.

“So much talent comes through the doors of Camborne School of Mines and Exeter University, but all too often those people end up working outside the UK. The old joke was that if you looked down a mine anywhere in the world, you’d find a Cornishman at the bottom. We want AMEC to provide opportunities for people to build careers closer to home.”

£250,000 of public money behind it

The centre has received £250,000 from the UK Government through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund. It has been developed to support the energy transition and bring specialist engineering capability closer to the projects that need it.

MP Jayne Kirkham attended the opening, which drew business leaders from across a range of sectors.

“It’s fantastic to see a local company like MintMech investing and growing right here in Penryn. The great thing about this new facility is how it’s supporting two of Cornwall’s most historic industries, the marine sector and mining, in a way that will help us bring wealth back to the region and enable the energy transition.”

Production Manager Leigh Frazer framed the centre as part of a wider shift in what the county can take on.

“Cornwall is already a hub for high-value engineering and manufacturing. AMEC is another asset for the county. With this upgraded capacity, Cornwall can support more major energy and infrastructure projects and outsource less work abroad.”

MintMech works across the offshore wind, marine construction and mining sectors. The company turns eight in August.