From January 1st, the company also announced that it had formed four operating units with industry focus –

Aerospace

Energy & Utilities

Engineering Services

Nuclear

John Lumsden, Chief Executive of the Motherwell Bridge Group, commented:

"The new structure emphasises the progress which the Company has made in focusing on and expanding its higher-added value engineering businesses while exiting or reducing its exposure to activities with lower margins and limited growth prospects."

Divisional Activities (May 2001)

AEROSPACE

Motherwell Bridge is quickly establishing itself as a key contract component manufacturer within the UK Aerospace sector. Through investment in sophisticated manufacturing technology and in its people, it has achieved an excellent reputation for reliability in a sector that demands the highest possible standard of quality and on time delivery.

The company has steadily increased the range of services it offers and, during the course of the year, provided a growing list of international customers with a wide range of component machining, fabrication and assembly services. Customers include many of the world’s greatest names in the industry, both at home and overseas, and it is the intention to build this list still further as the portfolio of skills and services expands.

Motherwell Bridge has also expanded its design engineering capabilities and believes that its ability to provide a full component design and manufacture service to its customers will provide it with a wide range of new and exciting opportunities. The company has extensive experience of designing complex production tooling and ground support equipment and its expertise in this area was significantly strengthened with the acquisition of Faber Design Consultancy.

During the year, a new high quality manufacturing facility was established on the site of the group headquarters in Motherwell, whilst the first phase of an exciting new project that will create over 60,000 sq. ft. of new manufacturing space was completed. This facility has been built to a very high standard and provides a first class environment for carrying out Aerospace sector manufacturing and assembly operations.

ENERGY AND UTILITIES

Over the past few years, Motherwell Bridge has reshaped this part of the company considerably, with the main focus now being on higher value added engineering and project management activities as opposed to manufacturing and construction. Activities have been focused on areas where the company has a high level of engineering expertise, including cryogenic storage, fuel handling systems, gas recovery systems, flue gas desulphurisation, gas compressor packages and heavy mechanical handling machinery and systems. Main markets in this area include oil and gas, petrochemical, chemical and power generation.

Motherwell Bridge has developed and enhanced its design engineering capability with the introduction of advanced engineering systems and extensive use is made of 3-D modelling and other advanced CAD software. Group personnel are skilled in a wide range of disciplines including mechanical, electrical, controls and instrumentation, whilst the company has the capability to fully support major turnkey engineering projects from its in-house resources.

ENGINEERING SERVICES

Motherwell Bridge has continued its development in the engineering maintenance and service sectors. The group continues to expand its specialist skills in selective markets providing shutdown, overhaul and maintenance services including integrated inspection management.

It provides an extensive range of site based engineering services to the oil and gas, petrochemical, pharmaceutical and electronics industries.

Air systems packages are design and assembled by skilled engineering teams, whilst service engineers provide a comprehensive maintenance support service. Welding consumables and protective clothing are distributed through the company’s national network.

In the personnel hire market, the company has expanded its operations to meet the full range of client requirements from a wide variety of blue chip organisations.

NUCLEAR

The decommissioning of nuclear plants across the UK will be a complex and lengthy process taking many decades to complete. This process presents Motherwell Bridge with an ideal opportunity to utilise and develop its skills and experience in the area of nuclear engineering.

Forty years or so ago, Motherwell Bridge was at the forefront of designing and building nuclear plants at Dounreay and Hunterston. Today, it is heavily involved in providing services and equipment for use in the processing of nuclear waste and the decommissioning of nuclear plant that has reached the end of its useful life.

During the last year, the group has made good progress in growing its business in the nuclear sector. The acquisition of Faber Design Consultancy has considerably strengthened Motherwell Bridge’s nuclear design engineering capability and represents a major step towards the goal of becoming the industry leader in the area of design and manufacturing of complex mechanical handling systems. The company has also expanded its involvement and capabilities in the areas of waste management and decommissioning, securing a number of complex projects for BNFL and British Energy as well as major outage work at nuclear power stations.

Over the next few years there will be growth opportunities in this sector as major new projects at Sellafield, Dounreay and Aldermaston get underway. There will also be opportunities for the company to participate in new projects as the Magnox nuclear power stations move into their decommissioning phase.

Motherwell Bridge’s ability to provide a wide range of services and products, combined with its strong project management capability, allows it to offer a service to the nuclear industry that the company believes is unique.