Member Article

South Yorkshire surveying firm featured on C4’s Time Team expands with £500k investment

A South Yorkshire surveying company that helped Channel 4’s Time Team look for an Iron Age fort is expanding.

1st Horizon, which specialises in 3D laser scanning of buildings and surveying for underground pipes and cables, needs nine new members of staff to join its team, after a £500,000 investment.

The company, which was set up in 2006, was one of the first in the UK to invest in the 3D scanners, which were then used by Tony Robinson and his team (below) to survey an Iron Age fort on a remote island off the Pembrokeshire coast.

Since then the company, based near Penistone, has invested £500,000 in new 3D equipment and worked with clients as far away as Russia.

The expansion has been helped by free business support from Enterprising Barnsley, a European-funded programme delivered by Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council.

Jim Garside, 1st Horizon’s managing director, set up the company initially surveying giant gas pipelines, before moving in to surveying buildings and underground pipes and cables.

As well as working in the mining sector in Russia, the company has surveyed steelworks in Romania and construction sites in Germany.

Closer to home 1st Horizon has worked on the Silverstone racing track, a giant gasholder at King’s Cross and the Trinity shopping centre in Leeds.

They can survey anything from sewage works and reservoirs to supermarkets and schools.

Jim said: “Whether it’s on the ground, under the ground or inside a building we have the equipment to survey it and create computer models. That way developers and builders can see exactly what they are dealing with.”

The company is now investing in Building Information Modelling software, which creates a 3D image of a structure, with the added dimension of time, meaning it can be mapped through construction and use.

Andy Arnold, of Enterprising Barnsley, said 1st Horizon, based at Bullhouse Mill, was an excellent example of pioneering companies in the borough.

“They were one of the first to invest in the 3D technology and they are now investing in the new BIM software,” said Andy.

“By being ahead of the game they have grown and grown. They are a good example of some of the highly innovative work going on in Barnsley.”

Jim said: “Enterprising Barnsley’s support has helped us massively. They have given us advice on everything from HR and finance to health and safety.”

Enterprising Barnsley, which offers a wide range of help to small and medium-sized businesses of all sizes with growth potential, is supported financially by the European Union and has attracted £2,259,511 investment from the European Regional Development Fund as part of Europe’s support for the region’s economic development, through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Clare Burnett .