Marshall-Tufflex’s PowerPoles and Odyssey Bio trunking have been used in the fitting out of the COVID-19 Lighthouse Laboratory in Plymouth, which, when fully operational, will have the capacity to process up to 40,000 COVID-19 tests per day.
The winning of the contract to supply its trunking, which was specified by Totus Engineering, followed the company’s success in supplying Nightingale Hospitals. A network of Lighthouse Labs was ‘launched’ in March 2020 to rapidly process thousands of samples per day, with the Plymouth facility approved in November.
Due to the urgent nature of the build, the Department of Health & Social Care appointed Kier and Totus Engineering due to their previous performance on Nightingale Hospitals. The new laboratories had to be operational within eleven weeks from start of works.
Bob Corne, Contract manager at Totus Engineering, recognised Marshall-Tufflex’s success in delivering its bio-trunking to 10 emergency NHS Nightingale Hospitals nationwide, transforming its manufacturing and delivery procedures to meet demand for flexible and urgent deliveries – many within the same day. He explained: “The Lighthouse Lab in Plymouth required a cable management solution that would safely house power and data points, and we needed this incredibly quickly to meet the build programme. I knew from Marshall-Tufflex’s outstanding work on the NHS Nightingale Hospitals that the team would be able to meet the deadlines required, as well as to provide a robust, anti-microbial solution to help inhibit the spread of bacteria.”
Totus Engineering specified 46 double-sided PowerPoles and 510 metres of Marshall-Tufflex’s Odyssey Bio PVC-U trunking. The trunking uses a silver ion solution that the company says disrupts key cell functions of bacteria, and prevents them from reproducing – meaning 99.9% of harmful bacteria will not survive on the surface.
Within 10 days of the order being placed, Marshall-Tufflex Area Sales manager, Nick Parkyn, ensured product was delivered to site, to enable the Totus Engineering team to begin the installation as quickly as possible. Thanks to the ease of installation, and Marshall-Tufflex’s ability to meet the schedule, the build has now been completed, and the site was handed over to the NHS to begin operations on 27 January 2021 – well within schedule.
Nick Parkyn said: “In these unprecedented times, we want to support the fight against the virus and ensure we provide a robust, anti-microbial product as soon as contractors need it, to get mass testing and track and trace systems up and running as soon as possible. We worked closely with Bob Corne to ensure the requirements for both product and delivery were met, and are thrilled to see the works were completed on time. I’m extremely proud of the team at Marshall-Tufflex and the key suppliers involved with meeting demand for this project.”
