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Two army helicopters flying in the sky

Morgan Sindall Construction appointed to deliver new helicopter support facility in Plymouth

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Morgan Sindall Construction has been appointed to a £3 million contract to construct a new helicopter operating facility for the Defence Infrastructure Organisation (DIO).

Operating from its base at Newquay Airport, the Fleet Helicopter Support Unit (FHSU) Facility will use the new Helicopter Landing Site at HMNB Devonport, the largest naval base in Western Europe, as a vital link to facilitate staff transfers to units at sea undergoing training in the local exercise areas.

Devonport has been supporting the Royal Navy since 1691. The vast site covers more than 650 acres and has 15 dry docks, four miles of waterfront, 25 tidal berths and five basins. The base employs 2,500 Service personnel and civilians and supports around 400 local firms.

The base is home to Britain’s amphibious ships, survey vessels and half her frigates, plus the home of Flag Officer Sea Training (South) (FOST(S)), responsible for delivery of sea training to all RN ‘frigate size’ vessels and above including the new Queen Elizabeth class aircraft carriers, Royal Fleet Auxiliary support vessels and to numerous international partners. HMNB Devonport is also home to the Royal Navy's Amphibious Centre of Excellence at RM Tamar.

Morgan Sindall Construction is delighted to be working in partnership with the DIO at HMNB Devonport and their team will draw on their knowledge and experience of operating in a live environment on a busy naval base, while constructing the new helicopter operating facility.

Nigel Whelan, Morgan Sindall Construction area director, said: “We’re extremely pleased and proud to have been appointed to deliver this project, which will provide our Service personnel with an outstanding facility and advance Britain’s capability at sea.
“Our project team is highly experienced and well-versed in operating on live sites and we have a strong positive collaborative relationship with our wider project team and partners at the DIO, which enables our team to effectively and efficiently deliver high-quality facilities for the Royal Navy.”
David Moore, DIO Project Manager, said: “This is an incredibly important project for the future of the Naval Base. The new facility will be a hub for essential sea training exercises as well as the focal point for the day to day operation of the base.
“We look forward to working with Morgan Sindall Construction as the main construction contractor on this development.”

Morgan Sindall Construction is on site at a number of key schemes across the region and has recently been appointed to a £4.8 million project to deliver the University of Exeter’s new experimental virtual reality facility simulator, VSimulators.

The 4 by 4 metre custom designed motion platform, linked to the VR scenarios, enables users to perceive realistic motion as they move around in a virtual world while optical and inertial motion capture systems and an array of force plates will record their experiences.

  • For more information about this news release please contact Ruth Cobban at Influential on 0151 239 5000 or email cobban@thisisinfluential.com