BISON Manufacturing’s Uddingston facility has been made a ‘Centre of Excellence’ for bespoke precast concrete products following a £100,000 investment in the plant.
The investment – supported by £60,000 from Scottish Enterprise – has been used to protect a minimum 27 jobs and to purchase new machinery, making the site more efficient and equipped to produce an even wider range of products for the Scottish and wider UK construction markets.
An original stressing ram, installed when the site opened in 2000, has been replaced with a new state-of-the-art multi-stressing ram for a speedier, more efficient production process. The site’s curing boilers, which feed the under floor heating systems, have also been replaced with streamlined, environmentally efficient systems.
Other new additions include machinery specifically designed for the creation of the 200mm sound precast slab – a product which conforms with Scotland’s new build housing regulations relating to noise reduction, and a suite of new moulds capable of making innovative features such as precast pre-stressed walling slabs .
The transformation of the facility has been carried out with assistance from Scottish Development International, a partnership between the Scottish Government, Scottish Enterprise and Highlands and Islands Enterprise, who have been working closely with the UK’s leading precast concrete manufacturer since summer 2012 when it announced it was considering closing the facility.
Recognising the importance of the plant to local employment and the Scottish construction market, a De Minimis Aid contribution of £60,000 was offered towards modernising the plant, with Bison contributing the balance required to carry out the works.
The Scottish Government’s John Swinney said: “The construction industry is vitally important to Scotland’s economy, offering a GVA of £8.7 billion and employing 170,000 people. Offsite construction methods provided by companies like Bison Manufacturing reduce supply chain costs, waste streams, build times, remedial works and generally result in increased build quality.”
