Surgo starts on £8m facelift at Playhouse

Feb 1 2008 by Chris Knox, The Journal

FAST-GROWING construction company Surgo has started work on the £8m renovation of the Whitley Bay Playhouse as part of its efforts to increase its turnover by 30% this year.

North Tyneside Council, which is currently seeking new management for the theatre after the trust running it was placed in voluntary liquidation in December, has vowed to carry on with the refurbishment, which is scheduled to be completed by Newcastle Surgo in Spring 2009.

The work will include a glass frontage as well as 600 brand new seats in the main auditorium, which is also due to receive a major facelift.

It is part of a concerted effort by the council to redevelop Whitley Bay’s Spanish City area, with £60m set aside to help breathe new life into the run-down seaside attraction.

Surgo has also confirmed that it has secured a deal to continue work with French pharmaceutical company Sanofi-aventis and begin phase two of refurbishment work to its packaging hall at its plant at Fawdon in Newcastle.

Once phase two has been completed, the deal will be worth £10m and will see the site extended in order to accommodate new office accommodation. This year also sees Surgo step up its work on two major education projects. The Excelsior Academy in the West End of Newcastle is already under way, and the firm has also been named as preferred contractor for the Sir Peter Vardy-backed academy planned for Blyth – a development which also includes a new primary school.

With such a strong order book, Surgo expects to increase its turnover from £50m to £65m this year as well as add another 10 jobs to its 200-strong workforce.

Surgo director Jeff Alexander said: “This year sees us take on a number of big projects, including the Playhouse, which we are very excited about.

“However, it is important to stress that smaller projects are very much the bread and butter of our organisation and we are to begin a number of contracts in this area in order to help reach our targets.”

Some of the smaller construction jobs in the pipeline at Surgo include the upgrade of more than 300 kitchens and bathrooms at council properties in Chirton and Wallsend and as well as central heating and electrical work on a further 1,400 homes in the North Tyneside area.