Member Article

University cements partnership with North East firm

North East manufacturers Bespoke Concrete has laid the foundations for a new environmentally friendly product developed with support from the University of Sunderland.

Based in Northumberland, Bespoke Concrete specialises in pre-cast concrete and stone products servicing many construction, civil engineering, highways and domestic projects.

To support its latest project, the company turned to Sunderland to develop a new step and shelf unit using the latest Computer Aided Design(CAD) tools and engineering techniques.

These units are designed to be placed in a cellar to form a spiral staircase and shelf system for storing wine.

Staff from the University’s Business Gateway worked with the company to identify and successfully bid for project funding from the Collaborative Innovation Partnership (CIP), to work in partnership with the company and Masters graduate Stuart Hedley,

In utilising the latest product design techniques, including the use of Finite Element Analysis (FEA) tools, together with CAD, the resulting products have a reduced cement content and are strong, safe, eco-friendly and competitively priced.

Bespoke Concrete’s Managing Director Martin Kay is delighted with the success of the partnership and business benefits.

He said: “Through the partnership we have benefited from the resources and technical input on modelling and stress testing provided by the university. This has enabled Bespoke Concrete products to move from the conceptional idea stage through to a position where we are now able to market the product.”

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