SembCorp Utilities, the £1.5-billion-turnover international utilities provider headquartered in Singapore, owns the majority of the land on the immense Wilton International industrial site on Teesside through its UK subsidiary which supplies companies operating there with critical feeds of power, steam and industrial gases. Customers include blue-chip multinationals such as INVISTA, ADVANSA, Huntsman, Dow and Uniqema.

Among SembCorp's assets are the Wilton Power Station - a 197 MW combined heat and power (CHP) plant capable of producing up to 600 tonnes of steam an hour - the Wilton Water Treatment Plant which supplies up to 2,000 cubic metres of demineralised water an hour (the largest such water facility in the UK) and cable and pipe work distribution systems for electricity, steam, compressed air, nitrogen and water. These facilities are vital to SembCorp's customers and require continuous programmes of managed maintenance to keep them operating at maximum efficiency. This is where the proactive and close working relationship between Interserve and SembCorp comes in.

We began working on the site in 2002 when our combination of safety expertise and value for money resulted in our appointment to maintain the cleanliness of the belts delivering coal to the CHP boilers. This is a safety-critical activity.

Our partnership-based approach and innovations in operational efficiency soon led to Interserve being awarded additional contracts for a broader range of work and to having an increased input into the planning process. We now provide instrumentation maintenance, multidisciplinary trade skills and access equipment in addition to a variety of plant cleaning services.

Interserve's staff play a key role in ensuring the delivery of SembCorp's products to its customers and in assisting with the planning of the site's ongoing and major maintenance programmes.

As a service supplier itself, SembCorp places a high value on the service it receives. Interserve's relationship with SembCorp has developed as its involvement in the Wilton site has expanded and a significant level of trust has been built up. Mark Bathe, SembCorp's Utilities Operations Manager, sums up the strength of the partnership that has been established: "Interserve has shown itself to be a flexible, reliable and high quality

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