Member Article

Award winning Desco celebrates 20th year in business

An award-winning Sunderland-headquartered MEP consulting engineering practice is celebrating two decades of success as it marks its 20th anniversary.

Founded by Paul Marshall and Marco Ambelez in 1998, Desco has grown from just seven members of staff to over 120 employees today, with offices in Sunderland, Leeds, Central London, Croydon, as well as the Middle East (Doha) and Far East (Manilla).

With its headquarters at Azure House on Sunderland’s Doxford International Business Park, Desco has increased its annual turnover from £1million in 1998 to over £10million in 2018, and boasts an enviable portfolio of clients and flagship projects at home and abroad.

The leading mechanical, electrical and public health (MEP) consulting engineering practice is behind many of the North East’s best loved building projects. These include a string of projects including Nissan, Newcastle Helix, Stephenson Quarter, Vaux regeneration project, The Word, Intu MetroCentre, as well as Park View Student Village for Newcastle University.

Outside the North East, Desco is part of the team working on the £700m Olympia London Exhibition Centre redevelopment and the new £400million stadium for Premier League Tottenham Hotspur Football Club.

The practice offers services including MEP, design, environmental, building physics, water design and fire engineering across a range of sectors including aviation, education, hotel and leisure, public buildings, retail, sports and wet leisure, commercial offices, healthcare, residential science and technology and transport and infrastructure.

In 2016, Desco joined a larger engineering group as part of its ambitious plans to expand into new sectors and extend its operations in the UK and abroad. Joining forces with London-based multi-disciplinary engineering firm Pell Frischmann (owned by RAG Stiftung Investment Company in Germany), Desco is the group’s MEP consulting engineering practice operating independently in the UK as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Pell Frischman.

Paul Marshall, Founder and Sector Director at Desco, said: “We’ve come a long way since we set up the practice in 1998 and we can all feel very proud of our achievements over the last 20 years, winning awards for our work and some major contracts on flagship developments.

“It’s extremely satisfying to be able to celebrate two decades in business and our 20th anniversary marks the start of a new and exciting phase for us all at Desco as we continue to accelerate our growth strategy as part of the larger group.

“We have a fantastic client base and a growing team of talented staff, and we’d like to thank them all for their support over the last two decades.”

Operations Director Kevin Hall, said: “The North East boasts a fine tradition of engineering excellence and Desco’s success at home and abroad is a tribute to that. In the last few years, we have secured some great international appointments and have really grown our service offering overseas.

“We’re delighted to mark our 20th anniversary and we are confident that we will see many more major opportunities ahead. We are looking forward to further growth and continued success as we enter our third decade in business.”

To mark the business turning 20, Desco has launched a brand new website. You can also follow the company on Twitter @Desco_MEP or LinkedIn

Key milestones in Desco’s 20 year history: 2005: Desco moves into its purpose built head office in Sunderland 2008: Desco celebrates its 10th anniversary 2010: Desco opens in Doha, Qatar 2011: Desco opens in London 2011: Desco opens in Manila 2016: Desco’s Leeds office opens 2016: Desco joins RAG/Pell Frischmann

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sarah Banks .