Redhall wins huge contract to help protect nuclear warheads

Wakefield-based Redhall has won the first two phases of the contract and said it anticipates being awarded the third phase later this year. In total, the three phases are worth £20m.

The contract would last for four years with the potential to pitch for another two years’ work after that.

Redhall described it as a key contract for the design, manufacture and installation of specialist engineered doors for the Atomic Weapons Establishment, for a replacement facility at Burghfield in Berkshire.

The first phase award is planned to start shortly.

David Jackson, chairman of Redhall, said: “We are delighted with this latest contract win and our developing relationship with AWE in support of its future plans.

“This award demonstrates Redhall’s growing reputation for delivering specialist turnkey engineering projects in demanding nuclear and defence arenas.”

He added that the doors are very sophisticated and only a few specialist engineers in the world would be able to produce the blast protection necessary.

“It’s a nice contract to get,” said Mr Jackson. “It gives us security in that business for four years.”

The Atomic Weapons Establishment provides and maintains the warheads for the UK’s nuclear deterrent, Trident, which are assembled at Burghfield. Trident is a submarine-launched, inter-continental ballistic nuclear missile weapons system, carried by Royal Navy Vanguard-class submarines.

The Atomic Weapons Establishment’s role is to manufacture and sustain the warheads for the Trident system, ensuring optimum safety and performance, but also to maintain a capability to produce a successor system should the Government require one in the future.

Last month, Redhall announced the departure of respected chief executive Simon Foster and said that trading had been hit by the heavy snow during December.

Mr Jackson told shareholders at the group’s AGM: “Trading in the first quarter of the current financial year has been slower than anticipated, in part due to the weather affecting progress on several major contracts.”

Analysts at house broker Altium said the severe weather in December had affected parts of the process and energy businesses.

Redhall said trading for the balance of year, which ends on September 30, should produce a full-year result in line with the board’s expectations. It reiterated that the year’s trading will be weighted in favour of the second half.

Mr Foster has resigned “for family reasons” and he will leave the group at the end of March.

Analysts at Brewin said Mr Foster was leaving to spend more time with his family, who moved to Devon last year. Mr Foster had been living away from his family during the week.

But Brewin welcomed the news that Mr Jackson will take on Mr Foster’s executive responsibilities until a replacement is found.

Mr Jackson said the contract pipeline remains strong, particularly in the energy and defence sectors and there are signs that the process sector is improving for the second half.

He said the group remains on the look out for acquisitions.

“We were delighted to announce recently our new £25m bank facilities with HSBC which gives us access to committed funds until 2015, ” he said.

The group is eyeing up “half-a-dozen” acquisition targets and aims to do a deal within the next six months.