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WE WIN PRESTIGIOUS LEEDS SHOPPING CENTRE CONTRACT
Finley Structures has been awarded
a multi-million pound deal to help construct a £ 650m shopping development in Leeds . The family firm , which has recently completed steelwork on Hitachi Rail Europe ’ s train-building site for Shepherd Construction , was handed a 2,300-tonne job to construct a major part of Victoria Gate , in Leeds city centre . Victoria Gate is an exciting addition to the vibrant shopping scene in Leeds , which will include the Victoria Gate arcade , currently being constructed by Finley Structures , which will include stores , restaurants , cafes and leisure space in an elegantly designed twostreet arcade linking Victoria Quarter to the John Lewis store . The development is expected to deliver up to 1,000 retail and hospitality jobs and 1,000 construction employment opportunities . Finley Structures was awarded a 20- week contract from Sir Robert McAlpine ’ s Manchester office , to fabricate and erect 2,300 tonnes of steel , after being recommended for the job by the firm ’ s Newcastle office following the successful completion of Nissan ’ s new car plant in Washington . The work is being done on behalf of national retail developer Hammerson Property , which boasts a real estate portfolio of around £ 7.7billion , with investments in 22 major shopping centres and 22 retail parks , providing a total of 1.7million sq m of retail space . Finley Structures operations manager Jim Graham said : “ This is a very prestigious contract for us and we ’ re delighted to be doing this work for Sir Robert McAlpine on behalf of Hammerson . “ Retail is fairly new to us , but is an area we ’ ve been looking to explore for some time now , and to get on to Hammerson ’ s supply chain is a major coup for the company . “ It ’ s a very high maintenance job . In retail there tends to be a lot of alterations and you have to react very quickly to change , which we ’ ve been doing very well to date and we ’ re currently on programme . “ It ’ s another indication of how far Finley Structures has come in the last three-to-four years , with large-scale projects like this now becoming run-of-the-mill stuff to us .” McAlpine has praised Finley Structures for its “ exceptional ” safety performance on the Victoria Gate contract . The firm ’ s North West regional manager Simon Trevor said : “ Not only are Finley Structures the only company to have scored a KPI for Health and Safety and over 80 % during the month of February , but they are the first and only to have achieved this in our region within the last 12 months . “ Our supply chain represents 80 % of our business , therefore it is the collective effort which counts on trying o change cultures to effect positive outcomes , so I congratulate Finley Structures on their exceptional safety performance .” The Victoria Gate contract comes after Finley Structures , founded by John Finley in 2000 , was given a 2,000-tonne contract to fabricate and erect the steel frame for Hitachi ’ s factory on Aycliffe Business Park last year . During a busy 2014 , the family firm , which employs 60 full-time staff , also completed a 1,400-tonne project for Nissan , constructing the steel frame for the Japanese car manufacturer ’ s new facility in Washington , as well as a 300-tonne contract for the National Biologics Centre in Darlington for contractors Interserve . In addition , Finley Structures worked on Middlesbrough Council ’ s state-of-the-art Sports Village , erecting 500 tonnes of steel for main contractor Willmott Dixon , while also completing a 500-tonne contract for Bam Construction at Teesside University as well as two 280-tonne projects for the Poniel Warehouses in South Lanarkshire , Scotland , for Muir Construction . Finley Structures started on site at Leeds in February and expect to complete the structural steelwork in June . Victoria Gate , formerly known as Eastgate Quarters and the Harewood and Eastgate Quarters , is a £ 650m development which is planned to open in late 2016 .
NEW SCHOOLS CONTRACT WITH GALLIFORD TRY
Finley Structures recently won a contract
to build new schools across the region .
We secured the deal with major contractor Galliford Try , a national firm which has offices across the UK including Washington , Tyne and Wear . Finley Structures has been contracted to supply , deliver and erect steel for five comprehensive schools in the North East , varying from 380 to 400 tonnes apiece . They include Laurence Jackson School in Guisborough , Longbenton Community College in Newcastle , Duchess Secondary School in
Alnwick , Bedlingtonshire Community School in Bedlington , Northumberland , and Hetton School in Hetton Le Hole . Finley Operations Manager Jim Graham said : " This is the first time we ' ve worked with Galliford Try and we ' re delighted . " Galliford is known to have a very tight supply chain in the industry , so this deal represents a fantastic opportunity for us . " We need to perform and be user-friendly , but we ' re confident we ' ll impress as we do with all our contracts ." Galliford Try is a FTSE 250 housebuilding and construction group delivering industryleading performance in the constructing sector . The group employs around 5,000 staff and benefits from a strong client base and integrated supply chain , spanning both industries in which it operates . This is the latest deal for Finley Structures after it was awarded a 2,300-tonne job to construct a major part of Victoria Gate , in Leeds city centre ( see above ).
ISSUE 10 / SPRING 2015