Glasgow Benefits From Ulster Firm's Expertise

A Coleraine site remediation specialist has won a £300,000 contract central Glasgow.

The contract for ATG Services, is the latest in a series of business successes in Great Britain and the Republic of Ireland for the company, which has been assisted by Invest Northern Ireland.

ATG is clearing a contaminated site for a new Sikh Temple, at Glasgow's Berkeley Street, with main contractor T&A Kernoghan, headquartered at Mallusk, Co Antrim.

The overall client is the Gurdwara Singh Sabha, which is developing a new temple for almost 2,000 worshippers. ATG is responsible for the clearing and grading of contamination at the site for the construction project that also includes extensive underground car parking.

The contract was announced by Dr Mark McKinney, ATG's Managing Director, and welcomed by Des Gartland, Invest NI's North West Regional Office Manager, during a visit to the company’s offices in Loughanhill Industrial Estate, Coleraine.

Mr Gartland said: "ATG's achievements in markets outside Northern Ireland, especially against a background of recession, are immensely encouraging and will position the business for further and faster growth when economic conditions improve.

"Underpinning the company's success is a growing recognition that it offers expert services in areas such as land remediation which are increasing in importance because of the need to redevelop brownfield sites throughout the UK for housing and commercial applications.

"Our assistance has been geared to encourage and support this entrepreneurial business that is focused on the development of innovative services especially for clients in markets outside Northern Ireland," he added.

Dr McKinney said: "We are experiencing a significant growth in demand for our expertise from a very broad range of clients. As a result of this, our turnover has doubled over the past year and business outside Northern Ireland now accounts for almost 30% of sales.

"The contract at the Sikh temple in Glasgow is an excellent example of our expertise in land remediation services. Increasingly companies and developers are turning to us for help in developing solutions that avoid the high cost of disposing waste at landfill sites.

"What we offer is a complete brownfield land decontamination service that involves the re-grading of waste for recycling and other uses such as road construction projects.

"The Glasgow project is particularly challenging because it is on a compact site adjacent to an existing small Temple, a primary School and the home of the Royal Scottish National Orchestra (RSNO) and involves very substantial underground work. We’ve been liaising closely with the Sikh community on the project, as well as Glasgow City Council, Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA) and the musical director of the RSNO.

"Other recent projects have included the decontamination of an old railway site at Barnstable for the development of a shopping complex.

"Our success owes much to a commitment to work in partnership with clients in developing a solution that meets their specific requirements. We aim to develop a solution that offers them the best value for money, an important consideration at this time when costs are under so much pressure," he added, noting that ATG Services Ltd was established in September 2006 by Dr McKinney, an expert in the field of land remediation services.

Dealing with a wide range of environmental and waste issues, ATG Ltd provides land remediation services, offering three core services - specialist Technical Advice, Project management and waste brokering.

ATG's expert services also include an effective solution for Japanese Knotweed, an invasive and aggressive weed that can damage foundations, buildings, flood defences, roads, paving, retaining walls and architectural sites.

(BMcC/GK)