Civils Specialist opens Birmingham branch to meet demand for major rail and infrastructure projects
The UK’s leading supplier of civils and drainage materials, Keyline, has opened a new branch in Birmingham to support the growing number of major infrastructure projects in the region.
The branch, located in Great Barr, follows the planned undertaking of nearly one billion pounds’ worth of rail and infrastructure projects in the region over the next three years as part of Birmingham’s 30-year development and regeneration project, the ‘Big City Plan’.
Arron Jameson, Regional Manager – North & Midlands, at Keyline explained: “The Midlands is currently experiencing significant change. In particular, there’s demand for new infrastructure to support major projects such as the Commonwealth Games, HS2 and the Midland Metro extension.
“We’re excited to play a key part in these developments by boosting our offering in the region. Through our new branch, we’re better equipped to support customers on a wide variety of projects, providing technical engineering expertise, service and proximity of supply."
On Friday 1 July, the branch was officially opened by hot-prospect, Danny Costello who the Birmingham team have sponsored in his training to become a professional boxer. The site is approximately three acres in size, with an extensive amount of warehouse space and external storage, and has created 25 new jobs for people in the local and surrounding areas.
“Part of the city’s plan involves the creation of over 50,000 new jobs and it’s important Keyline contributes to this by providing opportunities to the local community where possible. We hope to see this number increase in the future and look forward to becoming an integral part of the community in which we operate,” added James Topliss, Branch Manager at Keyline Birmingham.
“All colleagues will receive product training to ensure we can give customers the excellent service and expertise that we pride ourselves on too,” James continued. “Ongoing training will also be key to building the team’s knowledge and confidence, and all staff have access to our apprenticeship programme. Funded by the business, this programme can take an individual from a level 2 NVQ through to a level 7 MBA in senior leadership.”
The Big City Plan for Birmingham also includes an ambitious target to reduce the city’s CO2 emissions by 60% by 2026. To help contribute, the Keyline Birmingham branch fleet, which will eventually consist of six vehicles, will run entirely on HVO fuel certified under the Department for Transport’s Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation Scheme. “As a business, our ESG commitments sit at the heart of everything we do and every decision we make. Delivering a stock holding of over a million pounds into the heart of Birmingham and beyond means that reducing the environmental impact of our fleet was a no-brainer,” added Arron.
The Keyline Birmingham branch will use all-electric forklifts and provide electric car charging provision on site. In addition, Keyline is a FORS Gold accredited business, with a fully-fledged tool and plant hire offer due to open soon.