Technica Ltd

The last 5 years has seen Grimsby based engineering solutions provider Technica (www.technicaltd.com) grow and cement its reputation for the successful delivery of complex projects for the UK and international energy, petrochemical, industrial, maritime and infrastructure sectors for clients such as National Grid, Murphy Group, Centrica, SGN and Houston based Excelerate Energy.

Having secured significant contract wins in the last few months, the company has taken on new leadership as owner and current managing director, John Davison re-structured his leadership team.  John has assumed a newly created role of Chairman and has appointed his current Director of Business Development, Richard Law to become the new Managing Director.

Commenting on his new role, John Davison said “The next few years are going to be pivotal in the long term future of Technica and this new role will allow me to take a much more strategic view of the company”.  He continued “Having worked with Richard for the past few years, I have every confidence in his ability to lead Technica and assist with growing and diversifying our capabilities”.

Richard Law stated “I am honoured and very excited that John has chosen me to lead his business at such a pivotal moment and having worked with this leadership team for 4 years, I am very confident in their ability to drive the business forward” He added, “My initial focus is to continue to provide an excellent and safe service to our clients and then to push for the double digit growth which we anticipate being achievable within the next 12 to 24 months”.

Technica is committed to serving its existing client base through the successful delivery of projects, alongside the development of new partnerships and penetration of new sectors such as renewable energy and industrial automation over the next 5 years.

Formed in 2003, Technica (www.technicaltd.com) has developed a reputation for the successful delivery of complex electrical, control, instrumentation, mechanical and process engineering solutions.  Having the ability to produce in-house multi-disciplinary designs and then deliver these as  turn-key projects has allowed Technica to gain expertise in electro-mechanical, instrumentation and automation projects for the international energy, green energy, petrochemical, industrial, maritime and infrastructure sectors.

They are also able to provide EPC, EPCM and consultancy services to clients and have extensive experience in the successful delivery of CDM projects as both Principal Designer and Principal Contractor.

Technica Energy, the sustainable energy sector of Technica, are pleased to announce the signing of a collaboration agreement with the University of Lincoln.

The agreement couples together Technica and Professor Chris Bingham, Professor of Energy Conversion at the University. Chris will act as a technical advisor on power systems and control issues related to the design and realisation of micro-grid systems using the Be-Wind vertical axis wind turbine. Working alongside Technica, Chris will ensure that Technica can harness the maximum amount of power produced by the turbines when they are linked together to form a private micro-grid system.

The work will be funded by the Productivity Programme (https://productivityprogramme.co.uk/), a scheme funded by the European Regional Development Fund and run by the university of Lincoln. The scheme provides access to academic expertise at the University and is designed to enable Greater Lincolnshire SMEs to advance and develop their ambitions – driving levels of productivity and investment as well as collaborative engagement, leading to new products, processes and services and creating and exploiting new markets.

Speaking of the collaboration, Managing Director of Technica, John Davison stated “I am delighted with the opportunity to collaborate with our local University and particularly someone of the calibre of Professor Bingham”. Continuing, John added “Partnerships such as this can only benefit local industry and further enhance the already excellent reputation of the University of Lincoln”.

Director of Business Development, Richard Law said “This is an exciting partnership which will allow us to develop the micro-grid concept, harnessing more power and therefore enhancing the commercial benefits of the Be-Wind turbines”.

Professor Bingham commented “We are delighted to be supporting Technica Energy with this exciting project which sees the business entering the sustainable energy sector”. He continued “We hope that this agreement is the first step towards further future collaborations”.

The University of Lincoln (www.lincoln.ac.uk) is located in the heart of the city of Lincoln and has established an excellent international reputation based on high student satisfaction, excellent graduate employment and world-class research.

Professor Bingham (https://staff.lincoln.ac.uk/cbingham) has been the Professor of Energy Conversion at the University of Lincoln since 2010, where he was also the first senior appointment and co-founder of the newly formed School of Engineering.

Industrial collaboration and commercial exploitation features strongly in Prof Bingham’s research profile and interests. Selected contributions of his research portfolio that have resulted in commercial market penetration include the development of sensorless hydraulic-electric pump power steering systems for the automotive industry (supported by TRW Conekt, Solihull, UK); designing and prototyping of electrohydrostatic and electromechanical actuation systems for a passenger aircraft (supported by Goodrich Actuation Systems, Fordhouses, Wolverhampton, UK); the development of modular induction heating systems (supported by Inductalec, Sheffield, UK); and the development and realization of real-time prognostic and diagnostic algorithms that monitor a global fleet of industrial gas turbines (supported by Siemens, Lincoln, UK).

As further evidence of the international dimension to Dr. Bingham’s reach and significance in energy and systems sectors, he was selected as a British Council representative in Qatar to promote UK-Qatar collaborative research initiatives for energy security in the region (2011). He has also acted as an international reviewer for the Qatar National Research Fund.

Prof. Bingham is currently an active member of the Editorial Board of ‘Energies’—an open access journal of scientific research technology and development in the Energy Sector and has acted as guest Editor of Special Issues.

Technica Energy is the Sustainability Division of Technica (new.technicaltd.com). Over the past 25 years they have developed the capability to design and deliver complex Electrical, Control, Instrumentation, Mechanical and Process engineering solutions to the UK energy sector.

They are also able to provide EPC, EPCM and consultancy services to clients and have extensive experience in the successful delivery of CDM projects as both Principal Designer and Principal Contractor.

Having successfully complete the Factory Acceptance Test of a large electrical and instrumentation control room for SGN earlier last week, Technica were pleased to receive notification of another contract award from SGN.

This award comes on the back of a competitive tendering situation and will see Technica provide installation and commissioning services at a key SGN site in the South of England. The contract award calls for expertise to install and commission electrical equipment including the new E&I control room, UPS, telemetry, FWACV chromatography systems, metering racks and for the first time, the modification and commissioning of YZ Local Gas Treatment (LGT) odourisation systems on site.

Technical Director, Andy Hawkins will be responsible for overseeing the successful delivery of this next phase of the project having overseen the delivery of the site wide design earlier this year. He commented “This award marks the final stage of the project at this site and we are very pleased to have been involved from design, through equipment build and now on to installation and commissioning”.

Richard Law, director of business development at Technica stated “I am pleased with this award from SGN and delighted that they have chosen us for this important final stage”. He continued “This is the first time we will have undertaken work of this type for SGN in a number of years and I am pleased that we will be able to showcase a range of our services including with the YZ odourisation equipment”.

The works which Technica will complete form part of a wider upgrade to the site including civils and mechanical which are being completed by Darke Engineering (www.darke-engineering.co.uk). Technica will mobilise to the site in early July with a very tight deadline for completion of the works.

SGN is one of the largest gas network operators within the UK, providing gas to over 5.9 million homes and businesses across Scotland and the south of England. For more information please see their website www.sgn.co.uk.

For over 15 years, Technica (new.technicaltd.com) has developed the capability to design and deliver complex Electrical, Control, Instrumentation, Mechanical and Process engineering solutions. They specialise in Fiscal and Non Fiscal metering, RTU, Fire and Gas, SCADA, Local Gas Treatment and industrial automation and control. Technica is also able to provide EPC, EPCM and consultancy services to clients and has extensive experience in the successful delivery of CDM projects as both Principal Designer and Principal Contractor.

Technica are delighted to have been chosen to support SGN Major Projects with significant upgrade works on one of their most significant sites in the South.

The works will see Technica construct a large instrumentation control room for the site which will house the FWACV metering rack, telemetry panels, odorisation control panels and UPS. The control room will also provide power and distribution for other upgrade works planned to be installed on the site later this summer.

Andy Hawkins, Technical Director at Technica said “I am pleased with the performance of our design team who have worked hard to provide the EC&I design for this site and continue to resolve some other technical challenges which SGN face on this site”.

Richard Law, Director of Business Development continued “We are all very happy to be chosen to support SGN again with these works and pleased that we can showcase our construction capability to this important client”. He continued “We have an excellent track record of delivering these types of project, having delivered a number to SGN for the Gas to the West Project”.

SGN is one of the largest gas network operators within the UK. It provides gas to over 5.9 million homes and businesses across Scotland and the south of England. For more information please see their website www.sgn.co.uk.

For over 15 years, Technica has developed the capability to design and deliver complex Electrical, Control, Instrumentation, Mechanical and Process engineering solutions. They specialise in Fiscal and Non Fiscal metering, RTU, Fire and Gas, SCADA and industrial automation and control, Local Gas Treatment and the provision of site installation and maintenance. They are also able to provide EPC, EPCM and consultancy services to clients and have extensive experience in the successful delivery of CDM projects as both Principal Designer and Principal Contractor.

Having successfully delivered Flow Weighted Average Calorific Value (FWACV) gas analysis systems for SGN in 2019, Technica are delighted to have been chosen to deliver a subsequent analysis system for installation on the SGN South network.

This contract award will see Technica again deploy a combination of the Emerson 370XA gas chromatograph coupled with a bespoke metering rack including the OMNI flow computer with design works commencing immediately and build activities following on to achieve a summer installation period.

Director of Business Development at Technica, Richard Law praised the team at Technica saying “This award is down to the hard work and dedication of our engineering team in both the successful delivery of previous orders and in producing an attractive proposal for SGN”.

John Davison, Managing Director of Technica commented “this award is further evidence of our ability to deliver these systems to the UK energy market and also demonstrates confidence in the Emerson 370XA as the analyser of choice for the FWACV application”.

SGN is one of the largest gas network operators within the UK. It provides gas to over 5.9 million homes and businesses across Scotland and the south of England. For more information please see their website www.sgn.co.uk.

For over 15 years, Technica has developed the capability to design and deliver complex Electrical, Control, Instrumentation, Mechanical and Process engineering solutions. They specialise in Fiscal and Non Fiscal metering, RTU, Fire and Gas, SCADA and industrial automation and control. They are also able to provide EPC, EPCM and consultancy services to clients and have extensive experience in the successful delivery of CDM projects as both Principal Designer and Principal Contractor.

During these uncertain times, we believe it is important to communicate with you regarding our plans to deal with the Coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Within Technica we have well established business continuity protocols which allow us to deal with the business continuity event whilst maintaining our service levels for our clients.

I am pleased to say that Technica is still very much open for business and focused on delivering against our existing contracts as well as being available to support the emerging requirements of our clients

Our immediate aims are as follows:

Aim 1 – to protect employees who fall into the vulnerable category. The NHS definition of vulnerable is those over the age of 70 or has a long term medical condition or is pregnant or has a weakened immune system.
Why – we have a duty of care to ensure that we protect the most vulnerable people within our Company so that they can stay healthy and return to work once the immediate crisis is over.
How we will do this – we have approached all of our staff determining who falls within this category and have made plans for these to work remotely. They will receive our full support during this period.

Aim 2 – to continue to operate ‘Business as Usual’.
Why – our aim is to continue to support our clients.
How we will do this – we will continue to open the business on a daily basis to allow employees to continue in their day to day roles. We will however insist that employees show a duty of care to their colleagues by following the Government guidelines regarding self-isolation which we have reiterated to all staff. We are receiving regular updates from many sources including directly from the Government and will continue to adapt our plans as necessary. We have plans drawn up to mitigate the loss of key individuals but in most instances, have other employees who can switch roles seamlessly.
The company will insist that anyone developing or displaying the symptoms of a cough or high temperature whilst at work, goes home and follows the isolation guidelines. We will continue to support any employees who have to self-isolate.

Aim 3 – to secure the Company
Why – in order to fulfil the contracts which we have been awarded and it is a fact that the Coronavirus will pass in time. We need to ensure that the business continues to trade to support our clients and secure our jobs.
How will we do this – our Directors are now undertaking a number of tasks as follows:

Task 3.1 – To drawing up further contingency plans for a greater number of home workers should the situation deteriorate or the need arise – we will communicate this with you when and where necessary
Task 3.2 – To determine the status and security of our current workload i.e. understanding the impact of Coronavirus on our clients, their priorities and continued operations
Task 3.3 – To determine the status of future workload so we can determine what ‘business as usual’ will look like throughout the remainder of 2020
Task 3.4 – To continue to communicate our plans to our clients

Myself and the Directors will keep you updated as the situation changes.

In summary, these are unprecedented times which will have a significant impact on small business such as Technica – we will really need your help, continuance of work, understanding and flexibility to ensure that we are able to support you once this crisis has passed.
We kindly request that you continue to engage with us and communicate your own plans with us as the situation develops.

We stand ready to support any of the following activities:

Design
Commissioning
Construction and Installation
Software Support
Service Support and Routine Maintenance Activities
John Davison
Managing Director
Technica

Technica is passionate about the environment and minimising the impact we have on the World in terms of our carbon footprint and waste to landfill.

Having achieved another year without putting any waste into landfill, Technica has made further steps towards reducing our carbon emissions and impact on our local community by replacing all of the office lights with LED variants.

This project was paid for in part through a grant of just over £1200 from the Smart Energy Greater Lincolnshire fund which is part of a £9.2 million Smart Energy programme. This scheme, supported by the European Regional Development fund allows small to medium sized business across the Greater Lincolnshire area invest in energy saving technology.

The scheme will play an important part of our sustainable future and will provide a significant return on investment in terms of lowering our electricity usage and energy costs.

Technica’s environmental commitment is to ensure that all operations are carried out in a manner which will cause minimum impact on the environment.
These operations extend throughout the business and consider such matters as energy use, disposal of waste, selection of materials and methods of construction, maintenance of plant and vehicles. For further information please see /management-systems.

The Smart Energy Greater Lincolnshire project is being delivered by North East Lincolnshire Council on behalf of Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise (LEP).

A total of £5.4 million of the project has come from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to boost renewable energy use in the area and lower carbon emissions.

For further information please see https://www.smartenergygreaterlincs.com/about-us/.