Work on hundreds of new homes in Cumbria and County Durham is among a clutch of new projects won by North East engineers RWO.
The Newcastle-based firm, which has seen a ‘strong’ increase in demand for civil engineering in the last six months, is providing contract design and civil engineering services as part of plans to create affordable new homes on Washington FC’s former ground, which are currently under development by housing association Karbon Homes.
Elsewhere, RWO is providing engineering support for an affordable housing project in Spennymoor, County Durham and developments by Brierly Homes in Yorkshire, including sites in Pateley Bridge, Swainby and Woodfield.
— RWO (@RwoAssociates) March 24, 2021
The green light has also been given to engineering plans around the construction of dozens of new Gleeson Homes in Aspatria and Cleator Mills in Cumbria and the developers’ plans for 220 new affordable homes in Workington.
Work on these multi-million-pound residential projects is being hailed as a welcome boost for regional housing, supporting the demand for cost-effective engineering solutions and enabling housebuilders to bring forward developments to meet the chronic housing shortage.
Currently employing 22 people and working on a raft of work secured since the start of 2021 across its offices in Newcastle and Leeds, RWO has maintained a resilient performance during the pandemic, with revenues exceeding forecasted turnover of £1.75m in the last 12 months
Alex Erskine, RWO’s director of civils, is confident of further growth in 2021, based upon work already in the pipeline.
This comes on the back of continued demand driven by new local plans developed by councils across the north and a track record in resolving difficult engineering issues.
He said: “These projects recognise our ability to take a strategic view of developments from an engineering and planning design perspective for clients while delivering high-quality work and management services.
“Despite the uncertainties in the face of the pandemic and recession, house building continues to be a very strong sector for us, and we expect to see more strategic sites coming forward in the next 18 months, underpinning continued growth in our civils workload.”
