Scotframe goes the whole 8,000 miles for Port Stanley schools and housing project

27 April 2016

Talk about going the extra mile. In fact, one of Scotframe’s latest contracts to supply a school extension saw it going the whole 8,000 miles – to the Falkland Islands.

The timber engineering firm, based in Inverurie, Scotland, is accustomed to being contacted by potential clients far and wide but it must have raised an eyebrow at this one.

Even so, undeterred by the distance, the company has supplied the full kit to the school, located in Port Stanley, the British Overseas Territory’s ‘capital’. And that’s not all. The manufacturing firm has also supplied kits for 30 new homes on Sapper Hill.

The company is now in the process of shipping another 30 kits to the South Atlantic islands and will be tendering for future housing, as many as 150 homes, on the Sapper Hill estate once ongoing infrastructure works are completed.

Morrison Construction/Galliford Try is overseeing the schools and homes project through its standalone subsidiary Morrison Falklands Ltd. A spokesperson said: "With the school extension, Scotframe supplied the full kit for a new classroom, a kitchen and a boiler room. It provided everything, down to tables and chairs, kitchen fittings and sanitary units.

"The extension was necessary to accommodate the growing pupil community and, with the population of Port Stanley now standing at 2,500, it is likely that further extensions will be required in the future."

The school stands behind the hospital and the government buildings in Port Stanley, which experienced fierce fighting when the islands were invaded by Argentina in 1982 and subsequently retaken by a British task force.

The spokesperson added: "Scotframe originally shipped 20 kits for the Sapper Hill development and was asked to provide another 10. These homes are now up and occupied.

"It is now sending out another 30, the first of which have already embarked on the long voyage. Scotframe delivers them to Grangemouth, where they are loaded on a cargo ship for Montevideo in Uruguay, where they are transhipped for the islands."

The kits supplied by Scotframe provide the structure for a series of two- and three-bedroom semi-detached homes as well as for apartment blocks of four homes and four-house terraces.

"When the orders were placed with Scotframe, the timescales were very tight and the company responded extremely professionally. It was certainly the best value for money of all the providers we looked at.

"Everyone on the islands, from the contractors and clients to the people who are now living in these lovely new homes, is very pleased with the quality and efficiency delivered by Scotframe – even though it is halfway round the world."