Member Article

Portland Engineers enjoy growth amidst £18 million North East projects

As buoyancy in the construction market returns, Portland Consulting Engineers (Portland) is on track for a record year, significantly increasing turnover by 25% and staff numbers by 40%.

Since the start of 2014, Portland has won a plethora of contracts and seen its activity in the social housing sector increase considerably, working throughout the region and beyond on multi-million pound schemes to create new homes and refurbish existing properties for some of the UK’s largest registered social landlords.

Additionally, Portland continues to work across the housing, commercial, industrial, and further education sectors, delivering design services for a multi-million pound housing scheme in the heart of Ouseburn Valley earlier this year for Tyne Housing Association and completing work on a church conversion at St Francis of Assisi in Walker.

The team is currently on site with a new hydrotherapy pool for the Percy Hedley Foundation; student accommodation on Claremont Road, for student property specialist Ziggurat and new education centres in York and Middlesbrough for Askham Bryan College. These four projects have a combined build value of £18 million.

Portland has also developed civil and structural designs for a new training facility in Bowburn, for County Durham and Darlington Fire Services and work continues on the phased refurbishment of South Shields Town Hall.

In response to this continued growth the consultancy has added some new faces to its team. The new arrivals include senior project technician David Scrimgeour, senior civil engineer Mick Taylor, receptionist/administrator Amy Goldspink , revit technician Nick Atkinson , graduate engineer Andrew Coyle and senior engineer Stephen Hunter, who is the most recent addition.

Further to this, in recognition of his contribution to the company’s ongoing success, Mark Quigley who joined the practice as a trainee, has been promoted to senior structural technician.

According to managing director, Lee Barr, the scope of work the consultancy undertakes, coupled with its customer focused approach, is why Portland continually wins repeat business.

He said: “With a rise in demand for our services, I am confident that our development strategy for sustainable growth is being delivered with strong results.

“We continue to invest in BIM technology to stay abreast of the advances in construction and together with recruitment and retention of highly experienced individuals, we cannot only meet the demands and requirements of clients, but do so without compromising on our quality of services.

“I am delighted to welcome the new members of our team whose experience and specialisms further broaden the depth of resource we already possess.”