Britain’s Energy Coast funding helps “top off” unique deep-water recovery facility
Another unique facility designed to serve the global nuclear industry is to widen its appeal to the oil, gas and the search and rescue services thanks to a £150,000 grant from the Britain’s Energy Coast (BEC) ‘Investing in Business’ programme.
Another unique facility designed to serve the global nuclear industry is to widen its appeal to the oil, gas and the search and rescue services thanks to a £150,000 grant from the Britain’s Energy Coast (BEC) ‘Investing in Business’ programme.
A deep-water recovery facility was originally built by Forth Engineering of Flimby to replicate conditions on some of Sellafield’s most challenging open air legacy ponds. But the new roof and overhead crane using the funding from Britain’s Energy Coast is generating strong interest from the wider UK, German, Canadian and Japanese decommissioning markets, the oil and gas sector, and as well as interest from Lakes College West Cumbria, who are keen to use it for training in offshore crash and rescue. The project is expected to create 15 new jobs – ten of which will be apprentices from Lakes College West Cumbria.
For Forth, the new facility represents an important step in both strengthening its offer to the Sellafield site and the wider nuclear sector as well as help them to diversify into other areas which had not been on their radar. The company was formed in 2000 providing hydraulic and pneumatic engineering services but quickly moved into the nuclear sector, expanding into RD to help solve some complex decommissioning challenges at the Sellafield site; work that typically involved developing long-reach tooling and also Remote Operated Vehicles.
The £150,000 from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund-supported and Nuclear Decommissioning-backed ‘Investing in Business’ programme represents a significant chunk of the total £532,000 investment that is being made by the company. Work is expected to be completed on the project in January 2014 and ready to take orders four months or so later.
David Jones, Head of Projects, Energy Business Support at Britain’s Energy Coast, said: “Forth Engineering are a real rising star for West Cumbria – a company born out of the area’s nuclear sector but eager to expand into different sectors which clearly have demand for their products and services. The uniqueness of this facility is another feather in the region’s cap and is clearly grabbing the attention of companies around the world. The fact that ten of the 15 jobs being created will go to apprentices over a number of years also demonstrates a firm commitment to the future and we’re delighted to be helping them to realise their potential.”
Mark Telford, Managing Director at Forth Engineering, said: “Without this funding the new deep-water recovery facility may not have happened so we’re delighted to have secured this award from BEC. We want this facility to be a centre of excellence for engineering, development and training which will help us to serve clients around the world and benefit the local workforce and economy. We are heavily dependant on work at Sellafield and realise we need to change this for the future of the company. Being part of the BEC-backed trade mission to Japan and Korea last year really opened our eyes to the international export market while the support from the Energy Opportunities Supply Chain Project has helped us to focus on diversification into areas such as oil and gas and defence. The new facility is a physical outcome from our new direction.”
The Investing in Business programme targets businesses involved in manufacturing, processing, engineering or fabrication activities, as well as tourism attractions, looking to create jobs by investing in fixed assets such as buildings, plant and equipment or for research and development. It utilises £5.6m of funding from the Government’s Regional Growth Fund and a further £1m from the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority (NDA).
Brian Hough, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority’s Socio Economic Manager, said “It is extremely pleasing to see a West Cumbrian company building on the expertise that have developed locally and using that to identify opportunities in new sectors and overseas. That’s exactly what we had hoped for in supporting local businesses through our socio economic programme as delivered for us by BEC.”
Business and Energy Minister Michael Fallon, said “The award for Forth Engineering, supported by the Regional Growth Fund, is excellent news for the company, the energy sector and for West Cumbria. In particular, the international interest they are generating will open up new markets. Britain’s Energy Coast programme, along with the Government’s industrial strategy, is providing that vital link for SMEs to access finance so that they have the confidence to expand, recruit new skills and export to new markets.”
In addition to funding, BEC can also offer businesses and projects loans when suitable, in particular to bridge gaps in overall funding packages.
