ONE of Teesside’s newest firms will soon be heading back to London to continue work on one of the most high-profile jobs in the country.

Working 310m above the city, Teesside Industrial Solutions from Crofton Road in Stockton is playing a key role in the dominating presence of The Shard - Western Europe’s tallest building.

The firm was only set up in November and ops manager Gary King said it already held a large slice of the market for challenging rope access work.

“We apply specialist coatings on many surfaces and have already been up The Shard and the Tower of London, inside the tunnels on the Grand Union canal and on the Cutty Sark. It’s a real honour to be in these places” said Gary.

“On the Shard we dealt with two main surfaces - floors 1-72 are brick and then 72-94 are steel and glass.

“I have actually been to the top of the Shard myself to price the job up. That was a while ago because it can take a long time to finalise this sort of contract - but the views are breathtaking.”

Gary has been in the business for more than 20 years and admits his high aspirations started some years before that.

“I was always climbing trees as a kid in Thornaby,” he said.