Specialist firm is still going for gold
Feb 27 2009 by Andrew Mernin, The Journal
SPECIALIST lifting engineer Mammoet has announced a second, six-figure Olympics contract win, as the man in charge of delivering the 2012 Games paid them a visit.
John Armitt, chair of the Olympics Delivery Authority (ODA), urged North East companies to take advantage of the multi-billion pound commercial opportunities surrounding the London games when he came to the region yesterday.
Billingham-based Mammoet’s contract with project leaders Skanska, to help build a vital underpass for the A12 – one of London’s main arterial routes – is expected to begin in the autumn. Mammoet will supply 15,000 tonnes of jacking force for the installation of a 50-metre long tunnel.
The global company, which employs 70 on Teesside and 3,700 worldwide, has already helped complete the Docklands Light Railway, which will transport thousands of sports fans to the competition venues.
The company, which has a turnover of £625m, invested £20m in new crane equipment and 54 new staff last year. It is now bidding for further Olympic tenders which could lead to more jobs.
Project director Matthew Gent said the Olympics was a golden opportunity for firms chasing contracts for the £9.3bn Olympic project as well as those hoping to plug the gaps left in other unconnected projects.
It is not the first time the firm has been involved in work on an Olympic scale. Previously iconic projects include the Beijing Birds Nest national stadium and lifting the Millennium Wheel into place on the banks of the Thames.
