Member Article

Electrical specialist follows Nissan lead

The ‘just in time’ supply chain methods, pioneered by Sunderland’s largest employer, are also helping the city’s smaller firms to break production records.

Electrical installation business McNally and Thompson used the technique to deliver a £370,000 14-week fast track fit out of the health centre being constructed as part of Gateshead’s new Trinity Square complex.

Equipment for the main electrical plant room, which had to be installed on day one of the contract, required eight week delivery notice, whilst specialist lighting had to be ordered from Germany.

Such a logistical challenge is an increasingly common one for McNally and Thompson Managing Director Fred Hood, who said: “This is the way we are working these days, rather like Nissan. Often the most challenging aspect of a contract is the planning and ordering of materials.

“Without the equipment we could not begin the work and if we did not start bang on time we would have been in danger of overrunning the time line. So we put together a meticulous plan of ordering materials to be available just when we needed them and a work schedule that would allow us to meet the deadlines.”

And as always seems to be the case at Nissan, the plan worked and with up to seven skilled men on the site most days, the contract was actually completed a couple of days early – a bonus for McNally and Thompson’s first contract with Willmott Dixon.

Kieron Bennett, Contracts Manager, with Leybourne Urwin Ltd, the lead M & E engineers on the project, said of the relationship with McNally and Thompson: “Working with McNally and Thompson as a partner has worked very well, our own companies belief in giving our clients what they want when they want it, fits well with the way they work and the way they delivered this project.”

Trinity Square represents a £1 billion investment in Gateshead to create 240,000 sq. ft. of new retail and leisure space, a seven screen cinema complex, five bars/restaurants, over 750 parking spaces and 15,000 sq. ft. Primary Care Trust centre, on which McNally and Thompson worked.

The Chester Road based business is an expert in the installation of electrical and mechanical services at offices, retail outlets, hospitals, health centres, schools and sheltered accommodation. It has seen exceptional growth in the last two years, during which new contracts have bolstered the order book to over £4 million.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Paul Dobbie .