Member Article

Sunderland engineers win Qatar World Cup work

Sunderland-based design and consultant engineers Desco have secured work on one of the Qatar World Cup venues.

It is the latest in a string of sporting jobs in the Middle East for the firm, including two Olympic-sized swimming pools and design work on a national football centre for the Qatar team.

The Doxford Park-headquartered outfit opened offices in Doha, London, Manila and the Philippines during the recession, as a strategy to protect itself with international work.

Managing director Paul Marshall said: “A lot of the design work and expertise comes from the Sunderland office.

“We are finally emerging from the longest and deepest recession I’ve experienced. The Middle East is booming – in Qatar there is GDP growth of over 10% a year, London has GDP growth of 4% to 5% and although the Northern region is much slower, it is heading in the right direction.

“We have a lot of clients in the North East and we’re delighted the North East market place is recovering. While the Middle East is important, as is the increasing level of enquiries from London, our home base and our home market is perhaps the most important element of our business.”

Desco has a highly-skilled staff of almost 60 people in Sunderland, drawn from across the region, working on projects in the north, London and the Middle East.

The design engineers go through the same level of rigorous training as architects and have a similar earning capacity.

Mr Marshall says the Doxford Park base at Sunderland works well for Desco because of the road network and excellent connectivity, which allows staff to commute to work from Morpeth in the north and Teesside in the south.

He said: “We would not have some of the staff we’ve got working for us if we weren’t based at Doxford Park. We have people from Stokesley and Redcar and they wouldn’t commute to Newcastle.

“The roots of the business are in Sunderland and we want to keep those roots. Our business was originally formed in the North East and the location works very well for us. We always bang the drum for the North East.”

Desco has a long-standing relationship with Sunderland City Council’s business investment team, which has proved important during the company’s expansion.

Sunderland City Council leader, Councillor Paul Watson, said: “Desco is providing high quality work for people in Sunderland and is a real success story for the city, locally, nationally and internationally.

“A Sunderland base gives companies access to a great skill-set and excellent transport links, plus help and advice from the City Council’s business investment team. We are proud to have played a role in supportingDesco’s expansion and are delighted by the firm’s growth on a global scale. Desco is a great example of what can be achieved from Sunderland.”

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