The magazine for Aycliffe Business Park | 17
SCH Site Services managing director Gary Finley .
Numbers add up for steel firm after Tombola HQ contract win
Construction firm SCH Site Services has won a high-profile contract to help construct a new state-of-the-art head office for leading national bingo operator Tombola .
By Martin Walker
An artist ’ s impression of Tombola ’ s new HQ in Sunderland , which will be constructed by SCH Site Services .
Sunderland-based construction firm Brims is building a new £ 6m HQ in the city for Tombola , in a development which will create 80 new jobs .
Brims has awarded Newton Aycliffe-based SCH Site Services a contract to fabricate and erect a 210-tonne frame for the development , which is expected to be fully completed in early 2018 .
The latest project for SCH comes just weeks after the firm announced a major recruitment drive following a number of contract wins .
In January , SCH has added four new office staff , three new site employees and also added three to its in-house fabrication team , boosting total employee numbers to 45 .
Managing director Gary Finley said : “ We ’ re delighted with this latest contract win which is a big , high-profile project for us .
“ We ’ ve strengthened our management structure and employee numbers in recent months and this new project is the culmination of a lot of hard work by our staff behind the scenes .
“ We had a strong end to 2016 and we continue to enjoy a very encouraging start to 2017 .”
Tombola ’ s website is now the largest bingo site in the UK , and it also produces original bingo software and games , all created by inhouse developers .
The firm ’ s futuristic HQ has been designed by Newcastle-based Ryder Architecture , with the intention of creating a riverside campus which blends both old and new buildings .
Once complete , the new complex – a contemporary twist on a bonded warehouse design – will enable Tombola to increase its workforce in Sunderland to almost 400 people .
Sunderland Central MP Julie Elliott recently visited the site prior to groundworks began , and she said : “ I am hugely impressed by the ambitions of Tombola , which is Europe ’ s biggest online bingo company and could locate anywhere in Britain .
“ I am also delighted that a company of its size and reputation continues to be based in the city where they started .”
SCH , which expects to be on site in June once groundworks are completed , has also recently won a number of other major contracts .
The steel firm is working with Sir Robert McAlpine on enabling works at the Gates shopping centre in Durham city , involving concrete drilling and installing steelwork , while in a separate contract the firm is also working on behalf of sister company Finley Structures at the Gates , managing the site and steel erection .
SCH is also working on a project at City Electrical Factors in Meadowfield , Durham , involving 75 tonnes of secondary steelwork which has to be erected on to a pre-cast concrete structure , as well as a refurbishment project at Leeds University , involving various packages in and around the Student Union building .
Last year , SCH completed a 350-tonne project working on intu Metrocentre ’ s new Qube II extension in Gateshead for main contractor Sir Robert McAlpine as well as another project for intu at Eldon Square in Newcastle .
For more details about SCH , go to www . schsiteservices . co . uk or call them on 01325 327149 .