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Date:	10th August 2005
Source:	Eastern Daily Press

Glazing venture heads for new heights

Helping to prepare London for the Olympic Games is among a string of major projects taking an East Anglian specialist glazing and cladding firm to new heights.

English Architectural Glazing, based at Mildenhall, is involved in schemes locally and across the UK, and is celebrating its role in helping build the infrastructure needed to turn London into a world-class sporting arena.

The company has already begun work to clad and glaze London City Airport's station, which will convey passengers directly into the capital via the Docklands Light Railway.

The work is part of the vital regeneration needed in the East End of London to make it capable of hosting such a high-profile event.

The airport will be used by millions jetting into the city and will act as a gateway for tourists, dignitaries and sports people alike.

Edward Whipp, EAG's pre-construction director, said: “Winning the Olympic Games 2012 is fantastic news not just for the country as a whole but also for EAG. The project at London City Airport is a multi-million pound one that will see the trains running to the airport by the end of the year.”

He added: “As well as building a world class Olympic Park, London has a lot of work to do to make sure the infrastructure is in place to deal with the volume of people travelling around during the event and we are expecting an increased workload over the next few years as a result.”

Closer to home, EAG is providing the glazing and the entire building 'envelope' of the Riverside Heights luxury apartment block being built next to Norwich City Football Club by Ipswich-based Jackson Construction for Bryant Homes.

EAG has a 45-strong crew on site for the £3m project, expects to finish by the end of September and plans to tender for further phases of the Riverside Heights development.

EAG announced in April that the management team which had been at its helm for the past four years had bought the firm from founder and owner Norman Sheldrake. The deal meant that both EAG, sister company SGC Specialist Glazing and Cladding, and MultiFab, which runs the factory and manufacturing, would all change hands, allowing Mr Sheldrake to retire.

The management team comprises Mr Whipp, managing director Simon Gladwin, financial director Jeremy Cocks and business development director Charlie Dyce. Three of the directors live in Norfolk, including Mr Whipp, whose home is at Wreningham.

EAG is based on Mildenhall's industrial estate in Chiswick Avenue and employs 110 full-time staff split between its HQ and numerous sites around the UK.

It was among contractors on the new Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and has been involved in a series of high-profile projects in London including the new Camden Lock Market, The Roundhouse arts and music venue in Camden, and Hans Crescent in Knightsbridge.

EAG has begun work on a £2.5m contract to replace all the windows of the Intercontinental Hotel near London's Hyde Park. It will carry out £1.85m of overcladding work on a former office block in High Holborn which is being turned into a 182-bed hotel by Travelodge.

The company has won a £1.1m contract at the Wallbrook Wharf office development in the City of London and £1.3m of glazing and curtain walling work on a hospital extension in Sheffield.

EAG is delighted to have been enlisted to help build a new children's hospital in Brighton.

Work is now well under way on the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children, which will replace Brighton's outdated Royal Alexandra Hospital for Sick Children.

Mr Whipp, 40, who joined EAG as a sales assistant 20 years ago, said: “Things are going really well at English Architectural Glazing and the outlook now for us is brighter than it's ever been. It is very important, after the MBO, that people realise it's 'business as usual' for us. We have plenty of capacity at Mildenhall and will continue to be based there without a doubt. Indeed, we are one of the largest employers in the town now.”

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