Tees Business Issue 23 | Page 121

DARLINGTON NEWS

Darlington firm works on first HS2 structure

Darlington firm Cleveland Bridge

has worked on the first permanent structure delivered for the HS2 project in the Midlands .
Cleveland Bridge UK welcomed the Conservative MP for Sedgefield , Paul Howell , to a site in the West Midlands to witness the installation of the structure .
The innovative new 65-metre road bridge is located across the M42 and will form part of Britain ’ s newest railway , which will run from Birmingham to London .
This project is another world first for Cleveland Bridge UK and continues its 150-year legacy of supporting significant infrastructure projects across the globe .
Built using a design for manufacture and assembly strategy , the bridge contains 1,130 tonnes of steel plate girders , which were supplied by Cleveland Bridge UK and fabricated at its extensive facility in County Durham .
Sixteen of the 20-metre girders were preassembled at Cleveland Bridge as 50-tonne pairs to minimise the number of delivery vehicles on the road .
They were then assembled in a purposebuilt area using 8,500 high-strength bolts to construct the single-span bridge .
Spanning the width of the M42 , the works were completed in just two days , minimising disruption to the public and allowing it to open 22 hours ahead of schedule . Located close to the new HS2 Interchange Station at Solihull , the 2,750-tonne bridge was manoeuvred into place on a self-propelled modular transporter .
Installation was carried out by specialist engineering contractor Expanded , working on behalf of HS2 enabling works contractor , LMJV ( Laing O ’ Rourke and J Murphy & Sons Joint Venture ).
RESTORATION COMPANY SECURES £ 1M IN ORDERS
A Darlington company has secured £ 1m worth of work since reopening after the lockdown .
Stone Technical Services ( STS ) – which specialises in restoration , conservation , lightning protection and general maintenance projects – restarted after introducing a range of stringent health and safety measures .
The company has started work on projects across the country , including phase two of restoration works on historic chimneys at the Royal Courts of Justice , masonry and roof repairs at Durham Miners Hall , lightning protection projects for Karbon Homes in Newcastle , a façade refurbishment for Charnborough Town Hall in Loughborough and repairs to bay windows at Queen ’ s Quay and glazing repairs to Globe View in London .
LETTINGS BUSINESS COMPLETES LATEST ACQUISITION
My Property Box has increased its property portfolio with the acquisition of Richmondbased Garrison Lettings .
The deal strengthens the Darlingtonheadquartered letting agent ’ s presence in North Yorkshire .
Garrison Lettings was co-founded by Jill Atkinson who has run the business since 2004 , with the support of office manager Maria Hawkswell .
The Richmond office has closed and Jill and Maria have transferred to the tenancy management team operating from My Property Box ’ s office in Darlington .
It is the third such deal the agent has completed during the past 18 months following the takeover of Thornabybased Holt Estate Agents and Sandersons Lettings , which had an office in Duke Street , Darlington .
Four gain invaluable experience on paid placements
Darlington Building Society has demonstrated its commitment to the community by giving four local people invaluable work experience on a paid summer placement scheme .
Sarah Walker , Emily Shaw , Abbie Fawcett and Annie Grief joined the award-winning society in support roles .
The current pandemic has presented many challenges to every organisation , but the society used the time to create opportunities both internally and externally with a variety of secondments , placements and permanent roles .
Darlington Building Society director of people and culture Niki Barker said : “ In such challenging times , we have been delighted to be able to offer employment opportunities in our local area .”
New contract follows brand relaunch
Software innovator Excelpoint has celebrated its recent brand relaunch with a new contract win .
The company has agreed a deal with new Darlingtonbased recruitment specialist Recruitrite , which will implement Excelpoint ’ s software to achieve a customised solution for its dayto-day customer and candidate management and planning .
Excelpoint is a key player in the no-code software sector , building platforms to automate business processes for organisations across all sectors .
Operating in the fourth industrial revolution – the digital transformation – Excelpoint empowers organisations worldwide to create efficient automated enterprise-wide business systems and workflows . Find out more at excelpoint . co . uk .
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