The Gateshead firm reported that turnover rose to by more than £14m to £74m in 2011, although its pre-tax profit dipped from £3.5m last year to £2.9m.
The company has been involved in projects such as the painting of the Forth Rail Bridge, and has operated in a range of sectors from marine to highways, railways, renewables, utilities and the chemical and process industries.
Pyeroy said it had a healthy forward order book of more than £135m, up from a reported £120m last year.
It added that there had been significant growth in work from the onshore and offshore sectors, including the provision of access systems to companies like Heerema Fabrication Group.
Managing director Hugh Pelham said: “Despite the continuing economic pressures, this is a great set of results that reflects how well we are meeting the needs of our customers.
“There’s also a stronger requirement for a higher-quality, better-trained workforce than ever before, which is why we continue to invest in creating well-trained and motivated people.
“It enables us to focus on delivering quality, which is what’s required when you want to work for the likes of Network Rail, Babcock Marine and BAE Systems, and is seeing us emerge strongly from the some of the worst trading conditions for decades.”
Pyeroy started life as a protective coatings contracting firm in 1973, but added new strings to its bow when a number of North East shipyards closed during the mid-90s.
It now employs around 1,200 staff in offices around the UK and Ireland. It is working on a range of multi-million- pound contracts, such as providing bespoke access units for the construction of a compression module for Teesside’s Wilton Engineering Services. It is also helping to re-fit several Royal Navy vessels such as HMS Northumberland and HMS Torbay, as well as removing and disposing of asbestos in the Arabian Gulf.
Its continuing projects include the £150m contract for painting and access services on the Royal Navy’s new aircraft carriers, while it finished work on Tower Bridge and the Forth Rail Bridge in 2011.
Pyeroy recently opened offices in Aberdeen and Great Yarmouth to accommodate demand for its services. The company also provides electrical engineering support, as well as industrial cleaning and installation of insulation.
Pelham said: “Looking forward, we are now well-placed to see continuing strong growth across all areas of the business through our strategy of added value, further cementing our position as a market leader.”
Via: nebusiness.co.uk 
Strong winds are thought to have brought down the independent scaffold on The Royal Beach Hotel, Southsea.
The scaffolding was erected for painting up to the fifth floor of the hotel.
Local police announced that there were no body in the parked vehicles and no injurys were reported after the scaffolding collapsed.
One of the crushed car owners said: “Thank goodness nobody was killed, that’s the main thing.
“But I’m a bit upset about the car. I haven’t been allowed to get under there to have a good look but I think it’s a write-off.”
RoSPA is the largest and longest-running programme of its kind in the UK, awarding commitment to accident and ill health prevention. The scheme looked not only at Cape’s accident records, but also at our overarching health and safety management systems, including important practices such as leadership and workforce involvement.
Cape’s Saudi Arabia operations are leaders in the fields of insulation, refractory, painting, scaffolding, fireproofing and IMG works.
Michael Dismore, Operations Director for Cape Northern Gulf, commented:
“We are delighted to receive this highest tier of award from RoSPA, recognising Cape Saudi Arabia’s unwavering commitment to health and safety – a dedication which runs throughout the Cape organisation.”
David Rawlins, awards manager at RoSPA, said:
“The RoSPA Awards programme provides well-deserved recognition for the winners and spurs on other organisations to raise their standards of accident and ill health prevention. We congratulate Cape RB Hilton Saudi Arabia Ltd on its success and encourage it, and all our other winners, to remain committed to safety and health, an approach that is well recognised to be good for workers and the bottom line.”
Via: Press Release 
Liverpool Crown Court heard that workers had been pumping concrete onto the third floor of the building for most of the day on 19 September 2007 when the supporting scaffolding holding up the concrete suddenly collapsed. The workers’ injuries included cement burns to their skin and eyes, and bone fractures.
The Health & Safety Executive investigation found both the principal contractor for the project, Wates Construction, and the concrete subcontractor, MPB Structures, allowed the supporting scaffolding to be erected from a preliminary design, clearly marked ‘for discussion and pricing purposes only.’
The drawing did not include all the information needed to erect the scaffolding correctly or safely. The companies also failed to ensure the scaffolding was checked before allowing the concrete to be poured.
Both companies admitted breaching the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 by putting workers at risk. Wates Construction, of Station Approach in Leatherhead, Surrey, was fined £50,000 and ordered to pay £35,591 in prosecution costs on 10 April 2012. MPB Structures, of Crucible Road in Corby, Northamptonshire, was fined £50,000 with costs of £35,362.
Susan Ritchie, HSE inspector, said after the hearing: “This incident resulted in seven men falling roughly ten metres onto wet concrete which contained various bits of metal and wood.
“The companies should have made sure they had an appropriate design they could use to build from, and that the structure was inspected before the concrete was poured.
“Instead, more than 250 tonnes of concrete was poured onto scaffolding incapable of taking such loads and the inevitable happened – it collapsed. These basic errors could easily have resulted in several people losing their lives.
“This incident should act as a stark reminder that if you fail to plan and manage projects properly then there is a real potential for things to go seriously wrong.”
Last year, there were 50 workplace deaths and nearly 3,000 major injuries reported in the construction industry in Great Britain.
Wates Construction was charged with breaching Section 2(1) of the Health and Safety at Work etc Act 1974, which states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, the health, safety and welfare at work of all his employees.”
Dave Smith, chief operating officer for Wates Group, commented: “Safety is a core value at Wates and we remain committed to continuously improving our health and safety policies and procedures. We undertook our own internal investigation following this incident and have fully incorporated the findings and recommendations into our induction, training arrangements and policies.”
MPB Structures was charged with breaching Section 3(1) of the same Act. The section states: “It shall be the duty of every employer to conduct his undertaking in such a way as to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that persons not in his employment who may be affected thereby are not thereby exposed to risks to their health or safety.”
Via: 
