Stoelzle Flaconnage, Knottingley Rebuilding Against the Clock

On 12 July 2025, a major fire tore through Stoelzle Flaconnage’s Knottingley facility. In its wake, the furnace and key production equipment were significantly damaged. Production ground to a halt.

The recovery programme had a clear objective: rebuild the affected areas and get the Knottingley facility back into operation before the end of the year.

Working as a specialist subcontractor to Havercroft, Fussey Engineering was drafted into the programme to deliver a significant package of structural modifications and new steelwork.

Fussey Engineering was working inside an established industrial structure, in the middle of a much larger recovery programme.

Existing columns, rafters and purlins had to be removed and replaced. New steelwork had to integrate accurately with what remained. Installation was taking place at roof level, around existing infrastructure, while specialist contractors worked across the site to bring the facility back online.

There was little room for one part of the programme to disrupt another. And the clock was already ticking.

Accuracy was key. But it wasn’t simply about fabrication. Replacement and new steelwork had to integrate with the existing structure and be planned around how it would ultimately reach its position on site.

• A connection affected fabrication
• Fabrication affected lifting
• Lifting affected access
• Access affected installation

Roof-level working, crane-assisted lifts, existing infrastructure and the work of other specialist contractors all had to be considered as part of the same structural package.

Every decision had to think beyond the drawing in order to keep the wider recovery programme moving.

With the approach established, Fussey Engineering’s package moved from planning into delivery: removing and replacing damaged structural steelwork, integrating new steel into the existing structure and constructing a new penthouse frame.

Existing steelwork

Columns, rafters and purlins were removed and replaced within the existing industrial structure.

New penthouse structure

A new steel frame was fabricated and installed, incorporating columns, welded gusset plates, rafters and purlins.

Connections and integration

New and replacement steelwork was accurately connected into the structure that remained, bringing the thinking from detailing through to fabrication and installation.

Roof-level erection

Structural members were crane-lifted into position and installed at roof level, working around the existing structure and infrastructure below.

Following furnace heat-up, commissioning and testing, that objective was achieved. In December 2025, Stoelzle restarted operations at Knottingley.