Timeline
- 1980 – QA Weld Tech Ltd is established in one 600 sqm unit on the newly developed Riverside park Industrial Estate in Middlesbrough by Welding Engineer and current Managing Director, Charles Tighe, and Mervyn Jones, a qualified Metallurgist.
- 1982 – Begin working with Cameron Ltd (now OneSubsea) in the Oil & Gas industry on a subcon basis.
- 1988 – Develop in-house the Company’s first cladding rig for the overlay of corrosion resistant alloys.
- 1989 – Acquisition of nearby General Metallurgical Services (GMS) enabling the Company to offer testing services, complementing the existing welding expertise.
- 1992 – GMS sold to NTS (Now Exova). Texaco’s Strathspey field in the North Sea becomes the first project supplied with turnkey flowbends assembled and welded by QA Weld Tech.
- 1994 – First Fronius cladding rig purchased, beginning a long relationship with one of the World leaders in cladding technology.
- 1995 – Working with British Gas’ Technology Centre in the North-East of England QA Weld Tech develops the first weld inlay procedures for the WeldLink connector undergoing development.
- 1996 – BP’s Foinhaven development becomes the first major project to use the innovative WeldLink connector and QA Weld Tech are awarded the exclusive license to manufacture this product. 1997 – Richard Knowles joins QAWT as Technical Director and European Welding Engineer.
- 2003 – QA Weld Tech’s first pipe cladding rig is installed.
- 2006 – CNC Machining is introduced to support the manufacturing operations.
- 2009 – Adjacent units are acquired bring the Company’s production space to 3500sqm. A Strategic Business Review results in several new appointments including Financial Director, Paul Langley.
- 2011 – QA Weld Tech’s new offices are officially opened at 2a Bowes Road.
- 2013 – After visits by Petrobras significant orders are placed, marking the introduction of QA Weld Tech to the Brazilian market. Additional investment in CNC machining and pipe cladding rigs adds to the Company’s production capacity.
- 2014 – Further premises are secured on Riverside Park, bringing the total UK production space to 4600sqm.
- 2015 – David Pickles is appointed to the position of Operations Director, completing the Management Team, and a state of the art pressure testing facility is opened to complement the existing facilities.
