SES Engineering Services (SES) has won a £3 million deal to help build a new research centre project in Gateshead.

The company will work on behalf of AkzoNobel to deliver a new £10.7m cryogenic facility, warehouse and protective coatings applications and testing laboratory at the company's Felling site.

Working in partnership with Robertson CE, SES will provide mechanical and electrical (M&E) installations on the refurbishment of the existing Expert Capability Group (ECG) building, creating new wet paint laboratories and office space for up to 90 people.

Steve Joyce, SES' Business Director North, said: "This is a significant project for the region and one which has major implications for the coatings industry, so we are delighted to have been appointed. Our approach when undertaking a project of this type has synergy with the client's process-driven approach to manufacturing."

Garry Hope, Regional Managing Director, Robertson CE, added: "We are delighted to be able to support Akzo Nobel in creating a new facility which will not only provide the company with a state-of-the-art facility for its present operations but also create extra capacity for future expansion. Working alongside SES, which is a leader in building services engineering gives me the greatest of confidence and I look forward to their arrival on site later this month."


Elsewhere, the company has scooped a £5.7m contract to deliver a full mechanical, electrical and public health (MEP) package at a landmark building project in Ashton-under-Lyne.

The firm will work closely with main contractor Carillion on Phase Two of Vision Tameside; a scheme to create an innovative, advanced skills and joint public services centre for Tameside Metropolitan Borough Council (TMBC) and Tameside College and its partners.

The contemporary four-storey 'V' shaped building will create 15,150sqm of mixed-use accommodation. This will include 6,000sqm office and administration space for TMBC, 7,000sqm of education space for Tameside College to cater for its wide range of vocational subjects and 1,150sqm of retail space occupied by family and home value store, Wilko.

Under it's 44-week contract, SES will deliver the MEP package to include the installation of VRF (Variant Refrigerant Flow) heating and cooling systems, building management systems, rainwater and drainage systems and power distribution as well as specialist systems to support Tameside College's specific learning space requirements as well as the needs of a major retailer.

SES' Steve Joyce said: "Following our initial involvement in the Vision Tameside project in 2015, I'm pleased that we have secured our place on the more detailed Phase Two.

"I believe our extensive knowledge and experience of working at BIM Level 2 and our ability to work effectively with a number of stakeholders and their professional teams to tight deadlines were influencing factors in the decision to appoint SES.

"Additionally, with the fact that we are a local company which uses the local supply chain at every opportunity reflects TMBC's ongoing commitment to work with local businesses."

(LM)