Sunderland firm soars to £12m A Sunderland-based civil engineering firm is on track to grow its annual turnover from scratch to beyond £12m within three years of its launch, as a result of customer demand from as far afield as Qatar and Dubai. Global Partnering Solutions (GPS) started out in January 2016 as a two-man band offering highway and infrastructural design services to local authorities. Having since diversified, built up a team of 16 and grown a national client base, the firm expects to see turnover surpass £12m this year. Milestones so far include being chosen - alongside major global corporations – to be on the suppliers’ framework for infrastructural work required in Qatar before the 2022 World Cup.
We have the power Turbo Power Systems (TPS) has joined forces in a national consortium, which includes the University of Newcastle, aiming to deliver an exciting new project called Smart Hubs. The hubs are car park installations comprising solar photovoltaic canopies, electric vehicle charge points and energy storage. These are interconnected with the electric grid using smart power electronic devices to intelligently manage energy demand and supply. The global market for electric vehicle infrastructure is expected to see an annual growth rate of over 27% during 2016-2026. www.neechamber.co.uk
The first cohort of students are making promising progress in Northumberland College's state-of-the-art STEM Centre
Northumberland College opens £2.5m STEM Centre Engineers, scientists and technicians of the future are making the most of Northumberland College’s new £2.5m state-of-the-art STEM Centre. The striking new building at the college’s Ashington campus is home to specialist science and technology workshops with dedicated facilities that include a class 10,000 clean room, Digital 3D imagery equipment, nanotechnology, microscopes, specialist chemicals, and fab labs where budding product designers and entrepreneurs can access the latest in digital fabrication equipment for prototyping. With the addition of new equipment at the college’s existing Technology Park, the course offer has been expanded to include forensic and biomedical sciences, advanced manufacturing, 3D design, cyber security and network engineering. Northumberland College’s STEM Centre Manager, Gordon Crombie, said: “Our students have access to industry-standard equipment. This will help to address skills shortages within science, technology, engineering and maths, so students gain real experience for the benefit of themselves, the region and local economy.”
Plastic fantastic A budding inventor’s appearance on a popular daytime TV programme has seen order books boom for a North East-based plastics manufacturer. Washington-based Omega Plastics is benefiting from its customer Andrew Brooks’ appearance on Channel 4’s Buy It Now. Andrew's design for Pokito inventor Andrew Busby with Omega Plastics MD Gary Powner the Pokito collapsible travel cup captured the imaginations of all three of the show’s retail panellists, including JML chief executive officer Ken Daly, Firebox MD Kristian Bromley and Ideal World MD Fran Busby, securing a contract for 1,400 units, which has fed directly back to Omega Plastics. Omega Plastics MD Gary Powner says: “We have been working closely with Andrew from the beginning to provide a full turn-key solution for the Pokito." contact 45