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Garrandale – “Britain’s Great”

Garrandale – “Britain’s Great”

20/04/2012 | Channel: Infrastructure, Rolling Stock, Business Improvement, New Products & Services

Garrandale is a company that draws on its vast experience in order to take a closer look at how they can assist with the entire passenger experience

Malcolm Prentice, the CEO of Derby-based powerhouse Garrandale, has brought focus and unity to a company that has a truly unique offer. His passion and drive, born from a career in both the chemical and engineering industries, has gone from strength to strength over the past two years. Although the company was carved from engineering ingenuity and genuine prowess it has diversified extensively. They have now become the one call to make when both ‘blue sky’ thinking matched with steadfast delivery is required. Indeed they have become the ‘go-to solutions provider’ for a huge array of rail infrastructure maintenance and high tech projects. Over the years this has ranged from simple conveyors, jigs and fixtures or exhaust test equipment to sophisticated robotic systems such as the CERN core tube assembly line and the Ariane rocket shell inspection equipment. More recently they have worked on cabin crew training simulators, superconducting coil machining/handling equipment and 50 ton plate turnovers for offshore wind farm towers. All designed and manufactured in-house by their own staff. Today, even the main Bombardier SSL production line for the only train manufacturer left in the UK has been designed, manufactured and is maintained by Garrandale staff.

The company started life in 1967 with three founders: one from Rolls-Royce and two from NEI Combustion. The growth of the business was down to the success of its design-and-make capability. These refined skills have built the foundations for a company that excels at specialist machining for the assembly and manufacturing process. Design, manufacture, delivery and installation are all covered by Garrandale and to the highest exacting standards. They are currently working towards ISO 14001 (Environmental Management System) and OHSAS 18001 (Safety Management System) and principal contractor status. Indeed, Garrandale has recently won major contracts with Network Rail that have involved substantial infrastructure work at their Allerton Depot.

Garrandale has built and developed a ‘Winterization’ train and become the turn-key supplier for the clean-up of the Olympic Games. As a victim of constant vandalism, Network Rail has selected Garrandale’s holistic approach to any problem faced and they have elected for Garrandale’s reactive speed with adapting to any situation thrown at them. Graffiti or ‘Tagging’ costs the City of London alone over £950 million per annum and the Olympics will no doubt substantially add to this total. Garrandale will be ready with their own-brand products and techniques to tackle any injustice that comes their way. Products, methodologies and experience, combined with development and training, have secured the correct references and approvals to combat this huge task. The company’s comprehensive laboratory staff and research department are working to find some of the most innovative and exciting solutions for any eventuality. They are keen to fact-find from others and have forged intellectual partnerships to both learn and develop with like-minded others. Their union with Trion Tensid (TT) – the Scandinavian Chemical giant – is one such example. TT has created solutions for most of Europe and supplies literally hundreds of tons of chemicals to clean graffiti from operators such as SNCF, SNCB, DSB, Deutsche Bahn, NS and PKP. This has been a masterful match and TT’s CEO, Torbjorn Bengtsson, also shares the vision of Prentice that the passenger experience is totally linked to all aspects of the journey. He shares the Garrandale vision that clean trains and stations free from racist, sexist and highly insulting tagging should be the norm, not the exception.

In terms of depot work, Garrandale has excelled in delivering some very canny solutions for, amongst others, Network Rail and London Underground. They have an intuitive understanding at the concept stage of any project. They quickly move to detail design and from that to product design and eventually manufacturing. Their care and attention is second to none and the delivery they provide is always exemplary. From commissioning to manual creation and ultimately handover they both lead and listen throughout the entire process.

Garrandale’s training and committed support is only rivalled by their use of technology and innovation. Ask them about the Selhurst depot challenge and they can provide a list of case studies as long as your arm. With new products to be unveiled at ExCeL during the exciting FOSD 2012 conference on the 25th May, Garrandale is growing daily.

So in summary, Garrandale is a force of nature. The company is driving engineering excellence forward in a time of great uncertainty in the UK. To quote Martin Bright –
project director, Bombardier: “Garrandale has been working with Bombardier for the last 25 years supplying assembly systems and solutions. Garrandale Engineers have worked within Bombardier developing large and small assembly fixtures used in the various stages of rail vehicle construction, from large sub-assemblies such as roof, underframe, bodyside and car body erection, down to small fixtures for locating and setting air-conditioning modules and door initialisation. Without exception the tools and fixtures have always exceeded Bombardier’s requirement and Garrandale has always looked to introduce the latest technology to ensure both ease of assembly and close tolerancing. In addition to the design and supply, Garrandale provides an ongoing maintenance service for the equipment. The service that Garrandale has provided to Bombardier has always been high quality, latest technology and value for money.”

For further information, please contact:
Garrandale Ltd
Tel: 0800 949 9040
Email: sales@garrandale.co.uk
Web: www.garrandale.com