Northumberland-based offsite engineering and construction firm Merit has announced a 4000m² factory expansion at its Cramlington site
Merit aims to expand its growth in delivering technically complex, zero-carbon emissions buildings with the announcement of a new 4000m² factory expansion at the Cramlington site.
The planned development will allow Merit to meet industry demand for sustainable, cost-efficient and high-quality solutions, delivered at speed.
In line with plans for growth, Merit has doubled its workforce in the last two years and expects this facility expansion to add over 50 new jobs.
The Cramlington factory expansion will allow a more efficient offsite construction process for clients
The extended high-bay facility will accommodate two new manufacturing lines for Merit’s UltraPOD+ product, an expandable full building solution, and will enable the pre-assembly and testing of two-modules vertically stacked.
This provides an enhanced understanding of the alignment of modules prior to the transportation to the site.
Additional equipment, such as two 50T gantry cranes and a module lifting frame, will also be included into the new setup.
The offsite approach has been found to greatly reduce project lead times, maximise material efficiency, lower capital and revenue costs and significantly reduce external professional consultant fees.
Merit has delivered a range of biopharma projects in recent years
High containment facilities handed over by Merit include the new RNA Centre of Excellence for the Centre for Process Innovation (CPI), Abingdon Health’s lateral flow manufacturing site, and Piramal’s ADC manufacturing facility expansion.
The planned factory expansion will enable Merit to compete even more successfully for larger contracts against global competition and deliver long term growth for the business.
Tony Wells, CEO of Merit, commented: “Merit’s strategic objective is to deliver a step change in productivity within the construction industry and to show that investment in R&D and leveraging innovative approaches, such as advanced 4D BIM modelling technology, can lead to significant improvements. Our factory expansion will enable us to further optimise our way of working and better serve our customers.”
Merit expects the new facility to be operational by April 2023.
