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CEL International are delighted to announce the acquisition of IPDC Ltd (Integrated Process Design Consultants).

IPDC, who are also Cork-based, provide a fully comprehensive project management, engineering and design service. The principal partners of IPDC are considered leaders in their particular fields and have worked on numerous projects in the food, pharmaceutical and construction industries in Ireland.

The merger of the activities of IPDC and CEL International is a logical extension of a close working relationship developed over the last two years. Kieran Goode will lead the combined business working as part of a close-knit team with Denis Harley and Tom Kelly, from CEL’s established Ireland team.

Support to Ireland will be available from CEL’s headquarters in Coventry, UK. However, it is intended that the merged Cork operation will retain its autonomy and grow organically to support the market in Ireland and particularly to target the food and pharmaceutical industries, where both companies have an established track record.

CEL International Chief Executive, Ed Wilson, adds: “We are confident that the prospects for the combined business are excellent. CEL can supplement the IPDC skillset with specialist skills in the pharmaceutical, environmental and other specialised process areas. In addition we believe that other parts of CEL’s business including our international client base will benefit from the greater presence now offered in Ireland”.

Tank farm at Diageo, Leven

Following successful delivery of Phase 1 of the Tank Farm 3 project at Diageo’s bottling plant in Leven, Fife, CEL International have now been awarded Phase 2. Diageo, the world’s largest drinks manufacturer, blend and bottle a range of alcoholic spirits at this facility, including whisky, rum, vodka, gin and ready-to-drink products.

The tank farm contains spirit vats each of 125,000 litres capacity that are currently being used for the storage of ‘non-whisky spirits’ prior to subsequent blending and bottling operations. Phase 1 was won in competitive tender, CEL having offered an innovative and appealing solution at a competitive price.

CEL International Ltd are responsible for the mechanical and electrical design, procurement, construction and commissioning of the plant, and act as Principal Contractor. Civil and structural elements of the tank farm have been designed and managed by Blyth and Blyth Ltd. These services are being provided from CEL’s Scotland Office in Glasgow. Design was progressed by forming an integrated team with the key Diageo project personnel and Blyth and Blyth. The excellent effort and teamwork from all parties contributed greatly to the overall success of the project and will form a model approach for other joint projects in the future.

Construction started in October 2005 and Phase 1 of the tank farm entered service in March 2006. The facility is a Comah site and full compliance with Comah, DSEAR and BS61511 was required. Although the tank farm was built on a disused cask storage area, a new CIP set and interface pipework were installed in live production areas handling alcoholic spirits (and classified as hazardous zones). This work was carefully planned and co-ordinated to minimise risk and avoid disruption to production. Diageo are pleased that CEL have delivered the project on budget and to a high standard, and have now subsequently awarded CEL the second phase of the project to install six additional vats within the facility.

The opening of the Victrex Asia Technical Centre

Victrex plc have recently opened their Asia Technical Centre, in Shanghai, China.

CEL were responsible for the design, procurement, project management and construction management of the facility, which was delivered on time and within budget. The quality of CEL’s services “met or exceeded the expectations of the Victrex team throughout the project”.

Victrex Asia Technical Centre

The Directors and Senior Management team from Victrex expressed their thanks for the outstanding efforts of the CEL team in China and for the excellent teamwork between Victrex and CEL, which made such an excellent facility delivery possible.

Victrex are the world’s leading manufacturer of VICTREX PEEK, a thermoplastic with end-users and processors in a variety of markets including aerospace, automotive and electronics. The facility will service the Asia business commercially, as well as acting as a technical centre for development and excellence serving the worldwide market.

Simon Maguire, Director of CEL China, commented: “The facility shows that with good teamwork, CEL are able to deliver premium class facilities in China at a very competitive price. We have been excited on this project to be part of a truly integrated and focused team, and are pleased to have successfully extended our working relationship with Victrex from the UK into China.”

CEL International has been awarded two separate major contracts to provide a state-of-the-art R&D facility and a bulk chemical active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturing expansion at Pfizer Limited’s site at Sandwich in Kent, England. Both projects were awarded against stiff competition from major UK EPCM companies.

The new facility represents a significant investment by Pfizer in its UK-based R&D operation. This facility is expected to be on-stream by the end of 2007.

The award of the manufacturing expansion followed a successful detailed engineering study by CEL International. The multi-million pound investment should be in production by 2008.

Both projects will be delivered from CEL’s Head Office at Coventry. CEL International’s Managing Director, Gareth Davies, stated: “We have enjoyed an excellent working relationship with Pfizer UK at both their Sandwich and Morpeth sites. The award of these two additional important projects follows a strong track record in supply chain team working, innovation and robust project delivery. We are delighted to be involved in Pfizer’s ongoing business success.”

Marketing Director Craig Chapman receives the ACTIVE Award
from Sir Michael Latham

CEL International is delighted to announce that they have been awarded a prestigious ECI ACTIVE Project of the Year Award. Nominations for awards are open to all ECI (European Construction Institute Members) members in Europe for projects in which they have had a significant involvement.

The award is for Small Project of the Year 2006 and is for the Genzyme Enzyme Production Facility at Maidstone in Kent. Overall, the project included the installation of a cGMP enzyme production and purification suite. Genzyme’s Kent facilities play a global role in their sales and marketing, manufacturing, and research and development of diagnostic products.

This was a complex project undertaken on a working site where it was critical that there was little, ideally no, disruption to ongoing production. Key to achieving this was the establishment of an integrated team between the client Genzyme, the main sub-contractor Felcon and CEL International. The project, which involved creation and validation of new clean rooms, renovation of existing rooms, upgrade of utilities and HVAC and provision of a Water for Injection system, was successfully delivered on time, within budget and safely with no lost-time accidents

The project team, led by CEL Project Manager Rick Skelton, successfully applied the ACTIVE initiative (Achieving Competitiveness Through Innovation and Value Enhancement) throughout the project with specific emphasis on value-enhancing principles of project concept and definition, project team Mmanagement, project execution, and supply chain relationships. The use of industry best practice and value-enhancing practices in these areas ultimately culminated in the project’s success.

CEL International are please to announce that they have won one of the prestigious Gold Medal RoSPA Occupational Health and Safety Awards for 2006.

David Rawlins, RoSPA Awards Manager, said: "CEL International have demonstrated how seriously they take health and safety management and are a fine example to many other companies. We would like to see more organisations following their lead by providing a positive example."

Mike Draper, CEL’s Safety and Quality Adviser, said: “I believe that this award shows that our approach to project management and engineering is founded on sound principles of hazard identification and risk reduction at all stages of the project lifecycle to deliver leading performance in a challenging market sector. To us, every project is unique and needs its own blend of solutions to ensure we are building in safety and adding value to our customers.”

The RoSPA Awards are not just about reducing the number of accidents and cases of ill-health at work; they are also about ensuring that organisations have good health and safety management systems in place. They help to reinforce the message that good health and safety is good business and clearly demonstrate an organisation’s commitment to the achievement of high levels of performance in this crucial area.

CEL International is pleased to announce that it has been selected to work with British Sugar in an integrated team to assist with design and construction of the UK’s first bioethanol production facility at British Sugar’s Wissington factory, near Downham Market, Norfolk. CEL were selected for the project based on their relevant skills and experience, their approach to building integrated project teams and their expertise in effectively delivering complex fast track investments.

Despite increasing concern about the impact of global warming, UK carbon emissions have continued to rise. The challenge facing us is immense, particularly for transport, which is responsible for nearly a quarter of all UK carbon emissions. In response British Sugar has pioneered the development of UK-based bioethanol: a biofuel that can be mixed with petrol to help reduce carbon emissions from cars.

The project at Wissington recently received two major boosts. Firstly, the Government announced the introduction of a renewable transport fuels obligation (RTFO), for which the company had been pressing for some time. This was quickly followed by the granting of planning authority for the plant by King’s Lynn Borough Council.

The final element, which has allowed the project to proceed, was agreement between British Sugar and the National Farmers’ Union on the contractual arrangements for the supply of the sugar beet needed to supply this plant. This plant, which is designed to utilise sugar beet that would previously have been used to produce non-quota or ‘C’ sugar for export onto the world market, will produce 70 million litres of bioethanol each year.

CEL and British Sugar have set up an integrated team to deliver the project. Also included within the team are Praj, an Indian-based company specialising in the processes which convert sugar into bioethanol, and Cowan and Linn, a Scottish Building and Civil Engineering consultancy who have long established partnerships with both CEL and British Sugar.

This project illustrates CEL’s increasing expertise in environmentally-based projects. Building on its specialist process, environmental and project skills, CEL are now also working on projects in areas such as waste treatment, fuels cells, land remediation and environmental consultancy in addition to delivery of services into the chemical, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, food and consumer industries.

CEL’s Operations Director Gareth Davies comments: “This is the beginning of an exciting new industry and approval of this project marks a great achievement for British Sugar. CEL have supported the development of this project for three years and are delighted to be able to bring their award-winning project staff and processes together to create the integrated team which is so important for a challenging project such as this.”

CEL International has been present in China longer than most British project management companies and can trace its roots back to the mid-1960s.

CEL’s first project in China, the equip and fitout of an acrylics plant in Lanzhou in Gansu province, was awarded in 1967 after the successful completion of projects in Poland and the former Soviet Union.

In the 1990s, following the liberalisation of the Chinese economy, foreign investment became easier and CEL had the opportunity to capitalise on its commitment. In 1991, after building China’s first foreign-invested paint plant, CEL realised the need to establish a permanent presence in the country. In 1994 the CEL China Office was established in Shanghai, chosen because of the concentration of plants in the Yangtze Delta area that need processing expertise. However, CEL has also managed projects in many different parts of China and today China generates an important component of its overall business.

Read the entire article from China-Britain Business.