WYG Wins Cookstown College £150m Contract

WYG Ireland has won a major contract to provide civil and structural engineering and environmental consultancy services for the new £150m Desertcreat Training College near Cookstown.

The project, expected to be completed by the end of 2012, will provide an integrated training college serving the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI), Northern Ireland Fire and Rescue Service (NIFRS) and Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS).

WYG has been selected as a local sub-consultant provider by Perkins & Will, the US-based commercial architectural firm, which was recently awarded the Desertcreat design contract.

Ray Moore, Group Managing Director of WYG Ireland, said: "This year marks ten years of operations for WYG in Ireland and we are delighted that our anniversary year has started strongly with this exciting new business win.


"Our selection to undertake a project of this scale and diversity is a tribute to the skills and experience of our team."

He continued: "We already have extensive knowledge of the Desertcreat site through previous planning applications we have been involved in.

"This is a trend-setting project for Northern Ireland. There will be maximum innovation with regard to sustainable construction and operation at Desertcreat in order to minimise its environmental impact and provide positive social, economic and environmental benefits."

Mr Moore added: "This will include sourcing raw materials locally which will assist in providing employment and will bring wider economic benefits to the area."

Colin McCrossan, the joint clients' Programme Manager, of the Strategic Investment Board (SIB), said: "We are pleased that we will have WYG's proven experience in Northern Ireland alongside the globally-recognised design skills of Perkins & Will to help provide a landmark campus of its type."

WYG's success follows only weeks after the consultancy announced a contract from the Northern Ireland Prison Service to manage the design and building programme of a new 800-cell prison at the existing Magilligan site in Co Londonderry.

(PR/JM)