Enhancing Local Communities
Shufflebottom is once again delighted to be working with Tilbury Douglas (formerly Interserve) a leading UK building, infrastructure, engineering and fit-out company. We have been contracted many times before as a trusted supplier of structural steel by Tilbury Douglas for a range of high profile construction projects in the health and education sectors across south Wales.
The current project is the £130 million refurbishment of Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil. As the lead contractor on the building of the original hospital back in 1972-1975, Tilbury Douglas was the natural choice to deliver this high-value redevelopment which received a £220 million award from Welsh Government.
The project which is well underway, and will run until completion in 2026, is designed to improve patient care, facilitate a better working environment by creating a more modern and efficient health care setting: new pathology, critical care and MRI departments are part of the remit, as well as new roofs, atriums, 2 new main entrances, hydrotherapy pools and updated car parks.
This is a development of scope and scale with Shufflebottom being one part of an experienced team of suppliers that might see 150+ working on-site every day. The total amount of PCH steel-work completed to date and on order stands at 550 tonnes hot-rolled and approximately 10 tonnes cold-rolled. And there is more to price as the project develops.
As Vaughan Gething, Minister for the Economy of Wales says: “This is an economic boost for the community through local labour and sub-contractors.”
Although the physical scope of the project is huge, it doesn’t stop there. This development is about more than bricks and mortar and structural steel! Tilbury Douglas, as the lead contractor, is also taking the lead in making the social value of the project have wider positive impacts that enhance the local communities of the Merthyr Tydfil area in which they are working.
At the heart of this commitment is the need to try and overcome the skills’ shortage in the construction industry and to educate the next generation about the nature of that industry. And this is being brought about by engagement with local education establishments.
One of these schools is Ysgol y Graig, a primary school local to Prince Charles hospital (and one of 6 local primaries, 2 secondary schools and 4 colleges in the vicinity) engaging with Tilbury Douglas, and because we share the same social values, with us at Shufflebottom too.
Great relationships have been set up with Ysgol y Graig, led by Social Values Manager (Wales) for Tilbury Douglas, Kelly Edwards, who has introduced the children to numerous and varying educational activities. These include raising awareness of construction sites and safety issues, and well as interactive building sessions using materials. Tibury Douglas and Shufflebottom believe that “it is the little things like these that create the biggest impact.”
The Team on site at Prince Charles Hospital volunteered to make alterations to the children’s play area at Ysgol y Graig including building better paths, mud kitchens, six giant planters and bird-feeding tables to create a wonderful outdoor learning space. Shufflebottom, along with other contractors, has donated wooden work benches to the school.
It was a proud moment when Shufflebottom Contracts’ Manager, Christian Francis, visited Ysgol y Graig on Thursday, 23rd March, to have his photograph taken with the children making good use of the benches. It’s also a source of pride for us that the work and time we spend on the project site, extends much further, and benefits the community for much longer than the duration of the actual physical building.
On behalf of Shufflebottom Ltd I’d like to thank you for the invitation to Ysgol y Graig – it’s remarkable how invested the school is in fuelling the children’s imaginations, and to see the children developing basic key skills in engineering whilst having lots of fun was endearing. Supporting local communities is something we are very proud to be a part of; after all these children are the future of our industry.
Christian Francis, Contracts’ Manager, Shufflebottom Ltd.