Rt Hon Tom Clarke, MP for Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, where Bison Manufacturing is based, has met with representatives from the company and toured Heathrow Airport's Terminal 2.
Bison, which manufactures concrete building components including walls, stairs and floors, was responsible for producing more than 40,000 square metres of flooring for the project, equivalent to almost 10 acres and enough to cover around 6 football pitches.
The company has successfully completed a prestigious £1.15million contract to help build the UK’s newest airport terminal, set to open on 4 June this year.
Bison Manufacturing will have their work showcased on a Global stage with more than 20 million passengers from around the world set to use the new terminal every year.
The contract accounted for half of the factory’s output over eight months, with twenty staff from the local area retained to help meet the increased workload.
The project also gave Bison the opportunity to develop a new product that they had never been required to manufacture previously. At 60mm deep, the flooring slabs produced for Terminal 2 were specially created for the project and are the thinnest to be manufactured in Britain.
The £2.5bn infrastructure development is one of the largest privately funded construction projects in the UK. More than 140 UK businesses have been involved in its construction, drawing together expertise from across Britain and supporting over 35,000 jobs.
Tom Clarke, MP at Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill, where Bison Manufacturing is based commented: “I have been thoroughly impressed by what I have seen. I am so proud of their link in the Uddingston part of my constituency. This whole enterprise is going places and I want to give it every encouragement.”
Jim Harley, Operations Manager at Bison Manufacturing commented: “We still use all the new techniques we developed on the Terminal 2 project today, including a new machine we invented specifically for this job.” “All in all it was a great success story and raised the bar in terms of the quality of pre-stressed flooring in our industry. We are now recognised as having the best quality hollow-core product in Britain.”
John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow Development Director, concluded: “It is great news that the development of Terminal 2 has enabled Bison Manufacturing to recruit staff and develop an innovative new product. Major infrastructure projects have enormous potential to be a catalyst for growth in every part of the UK. Terminal 2 has enabled a wide-range of businesses to grow their knowledge, skills and people, the benefits of which will be felt not just now but for many years to come.”
Ahead of its opening on 4 June 2014, T2 is now in an intensive preparation phase as Heathrow, its airlines and other operators to ensure the terminal is ‘passenger ready’. These preparations have included more than 180 trials and tests involving over 14,000 people.