Hello, welcome, or welcome back to the Pipeline newsletter ( issue 2.March 2023).  We’re now at the end of the first quarter of 2023, and the industry is looking towards the rush that summer and Q2 normally brings. The team at Alba Dewatering have been preparing for a number of larger jobs on the horizon, getting things in order after the Christmas shut down period and chasing up a few loose ends.

On the social media side, we’ve just showcased one of our more unique bespoke designs, which required a from-scratch approach to suit the needs of the job. Our Technical Director, Mark Baldwin, drew up some designs for a manifold, which we then fabricated and manufactured at our offices before installation on-site.

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On the office side, we’ve just moved – admittedly, just over the courtyard into what was the Directors’ offices, with them taking our old building. We’re exceptionally lucky in that we operate out of a listed building in what is, essentially, the middle of a field. Complete with pheasants and wildlife. Who are far too comfortable with cars and people at this point, it has to be said.
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Our base of operations

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Our office team has moved to larger premises (just over the car park/ courtyard)

Thankfully, with the summer months incoming we are leaving the major downside to being in the middle of nowhere – having to navigate through the narrow country roads in icy, and more recently, snowy weather. But with more space comes expansion, and the office team is growing to accommodate new positions that will allow us to deliver better services to all of our clients.

In a similar vein, we’ve also been actively searching for an experienced hydrogeologist to join the team. Which is easier said than done, as the industry is apparently in a bit of a talent vacuum when it comes to hydrogeologists and geologists – if you know of anyone looking, please send them our way! We’re keen to upskill that area of the business to help us better our own services.

In other news, Alba Dewatering has achieved a major milestone – earlier this month we undertook a significant project in Scotland as the principal contractor. Naturally, dewatering tends to be a supplementary service to a project, with such companies being employed on a sub-contractor basis to support primary works. This project, then, allowed us to bolster our policies and procedures, as well as stress test them, at scale. We’re not secretive at being a small company – in fact, it’s one of our prized qualities – so this was an exciting opportunity, and hopefully paved the way for other such projects down the road. We’ll be able to share more details on this project soon (hopefully in the next edition of the newsletter – stay tuned!)

That’s about it for this edition. It’s been one of those typical “busy preparing” months, setting the foundation for the rest of the year. Next edition, we’ll be back with our team member spotlight, as everyone has been hunkering down on projects and escaped my camera lens. Next time… next time….

Check out this issue and all other editions of the Pipeline newsletter through here.