Engineering consultancy Rolton Group has opened a new Tyneside office in support of its work on the planned Britishvolt gigfactory in Northumberland.
It is the fifth UK office for multi-disciplinary firm which was appointed the lead engineering consultancy for the £3.8bn battery plant and says it has ambitions to grow its North East presence starting with the six staff now based at Cobalt Business Exchange. The group's chair, Peter Rolton, is also executive chairman of Britishvolt.
Andrew Glancey, associate director at Rolton Group's new base, said: “Building on our involvement with the ongoing Britishvolt Gigaplant project in Blyth, we have been actively establishing a team here in the North East. Newcastle is a fantastic city that boasts ample opportunity with access to the wider North East region for building client relationships and generating new workflow. Acquiring a permanent base for our growing regional team was the next logical step and one that supports our strategic business objectives for expansion. Really exciting times and a defining moment for Rolton Group!”
Read more: McGrady Clarke consultancy's growth energised by six-figure investment
Rolton Group has worked across the automotive and advanced manufacturing industries to help deliver a number of facilities. Its appointment to the Britishvolt project follows its provision of strategy energy advice to the Government on potential gigafactory locations in the UK.
Earlier this year Rolton was appointed to the Propser Design and Consultancy Framework for the provision of three separate lots; ground investigations and remediation needs; civil and structural engineering; and mechanical and electrical (MEP) engineering design. The two-year framework agreement means the firm could provide services to Prosper members and public sector contracting bodies in the North East, Cumbria and North Yorkshire.
Working in partnership with Northumbria University, Rolton Group has also launched the Rolton Group Engineering Scholarships for 2022 . Established to support the growth of an underrepresented group in the engineering field and worth £6,000 each, two scholarships will be awarded this September to academically gifted Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic women to support their studies on one of Northumbria’s engineering courses.
Craig Smith, managing director of Rolton Group, said: “With such an iconic, major project ongoing and several other clients and design team partners based in the region, expanding our operations to Newcastle has been an excellent move for us; but we’re not just here for the Gigaplant. In addition to successful appointment on the Prosper framework (amongst other projects), we’ve seen the Government’s levelling up agenda - which includes 18 North East locations identified as priority category one areas - showing a renewed focus nationally on the economic opportunities that exist in towns and cities outside of the traditional financial and economic centres of London and the South East.
"Making our own commitment to the North East region by establishing a permanent team and office here underlines our confidence in both the future opportunities of exciting developments to come and in the talented, local individuals working in (and joining) the construction industry.”
READ NEXT:
