Member Article

£1 million hotel for offshore workers to be developed in North Tyneside

A unique project to create specialist, affordable hotel accommodation for offshore workers is being developed on North Tyneside by offshore training experts, AIS.

The £1 million three-storey hotel, which will be located on the Tyne Tunnel Industrial Estate in North Shields, will sit alongside AIS Training’s multi-million pound, world-class offshore training complex and will offer high-quality, low-cost accommodation for training delegates.

Believed to be the very first project of its kind in the world, the new purpose-built hotel will initially provide high quality accommodation for up to 28 people, with a second phase planned to add another 12 rooms in the next 12 months.

The hotel will be styled to simulate offshore life and will offer Wi-Fi and en-suite facilities for every room, a fully-equipped gym and break out areas for relaxing and socialising.

Guests will also have access to AIS Training’s highly rated restaurant located just metres away within its brand new multi-million pound offshore survival centre offering sea survival training for the offshore, wind and maritime industries.

The hotel has recently received planning approval and construction work is now underway with the first guests expected later this summer.

Managing director of AIS, Paul Stonebanks said: “We currently train thousands of delegates every year in mandatory and optional industry-approved qualifications and competencies for the booming offshore energy market.

“Many of these offshore workers live outside the region and require accommodation and, although there are lots of great local hotels, we recognised that offering a more affordable option, which also mirrors real offshore life, complements and enriches our offer.

“We’ve already invested millions of pounds in creating a world-class, state-of-the-art training village, with 12 bespoke centres over 100,000 square foot to provide skills training for the offshore, wind, industrial and maritime industries. Our centres are extremely realistic and highly technological, ensuring delegates learn in a safe and controlled environment. Our hotel will complement this training and will start to feel like you’re actually offshore.

“This project is the latest in a very exciting and successful year for AIS. In the next few weeks, we’ll launch a brand new offshore survival centre to train workers from the offshore oil and gas, wind and maritime sectors how to cope in the event of an emergency, which means we can provide one of the world’s largest training portfolios for the offshore sector.”

AIS is an award-winning manufacturer and service provider to the global offshore, wind energy and industrial sectors. It has six divisions: technical insulation and fire protection products, training services, facilities management, business efficiency related software, online sales and manpower services and works with blue-chip clients from around the world.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Tom Keighley .