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Case Type 1 :: Britannia Test & Measurement Ltd
Thu 22nd Jan 2009, 10:39am
For Andy O’Brien, managing director of Britannia Test & Measurement Ltd, competing for public sector contracts is the lifeblood of his company. But, the complexity of the system and a lack of awareness in some quarters of the added benefits of using local companies is shackling the firm’s ability to grow and create jobs.
The bespoke testing and monitoring company Mr O’Brien established in Middlesbrough in 2002 has gone from strength to strength on the back of some notable contract wins.
The diversity of its work included supplying, installing and servicing the liquid nitrogen storage vessel monitoring and alarm system for the fertility clinic at Sunderland Royal Hospital. Several other local NHS trusts use specialist mini-incubators designed and manufactured by the firm to incubate micro-biology swab sticks used in the testing of hospital cleanliness.
Britannia also installed and services the environmental noise level monitoring system at South Tees Motor Sports for Redcar & Cleveland Council.
The company fitted a specialist wireless radio temperature monitoring system at the SITA UK landfill site at Ellington, Northumberland which is used by Wansbeck District Council. The system was fitted to composting bays to ensure waste treatment meets DEFRA Government standards.
Cleveland Fire Brigade called on Britannia’s expertise when it needed temperature recording equipment used within simulation blazes at the Grangetown training site to help establish how fires develop in confined areas.
But, Mr O’Brien is concerned that the ongoing growth and development of the company is hampered by a public sector purchasing system that favours larger suppliers.
He said: "We are often overlooked when procurement decisions are made in favour of much larger, nationwide companies.
"In our opinion this results in higher contract costs to the public sector and prevents them from getting the type of local, on-site technical support and maintenance they would get from companies such as ours.
"If more effort was made to use local companies the added benefits of a superior service and the growth of such local companies would be increased adding greatly to the local economy.
"We have recently employed a young trainee engineer in order to support the growing on site service contracts we have in place, and with an improved working partnership with local authority’s we would very soon look to employ further staff."