Expansion for Merit

Merit is a £42m-turnover company that specialises in clean and dry room design and production of associated pipework and controls for the healthcare, pharmaceutical , process and energy sectors. It also produces prefabricated pods that can be combined to form a whole building.Merit already has 25,084 sqm (270,000 sq ft) of factory space in Cramlington and it is now extending its factory space by 16%, adding a further 4,000 sqm to increase production capacity.The extended high-bay facility will accommodate two new manufacturing lines for Merit’s Ultrapod+ product, an expandable full building system, and will enable the assembly and testing of two modules stacked vertically. Lifting equipment will include a pair of 50-tonne gantry cranes and a module lifting frame.Merit expects the new facility to be operational by April 2023.Chief executive and majority shareholder Tony Wells said: “Merit’s strategic objective is to deliver a step change in productivity within the construction industry and to show that investment in R&D and leveraging innovative approaches, such as advanced 4D BIM (four-dimensional building information modelling) technology, can lead to significant improvements. Our factory expansion will enable us to further optimise our way of working and better serve our customers.”