Partner Article

Laying the tracks to success

A Blaydon infrastructure maintenance company is set to create 100 jobs and triple its turnover to £6m in two years after announcing plans for expansion throughout the UK.

Originally called Railsafe, Infrasafe currently employs 70 staff and will now bolster its workforce on the back of a recent overhaul and rebranding of the company’s image.

The organisation was launched following rail privatisation 15 years ago and has continued to work closely with Network Rail to maintain and upgrade track.

It now offers construction, maintenance and environmental services and will now work with local authorities and the private sector as it pursues its drive for expansion.

Commercial director Brian Cairns said: “We have grown and prospered by serving the rail industry but there has been an economic downturn and our traditional sectors are affected by it like any other, so we have to look a bit outside of the box but rather than sink with the recession, we wanted to rise from it and expand.’’

“We looked at our strengths and what else we could be doing. So we looked at the things we were qualified to do on the railway such as environmental services and minor builds works, graffiti removal, vegetation control and fly-tipping clearance and broadened that out so these can be services we could be offering to both the public sector and the private sector.”

Following the successful re-launch with help from Business Link, skills adviser Ian Coull carried out an audit, which has resulted in updating staff skills in health and safety management.

He added: “Infrasafe are a very forward looking company and it is to their credit that they looked at their market and identified that they needed to move into other things and look at new ways of getting into those markets.

“They are innovators and are not satisfied with merely copying what they have done before.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .