Johnson Matthey : Tracerco celebrates opening of its new £9 million Measurement Technology Centre

The centre provides a platform for Tracerco to expand its measurement technology innovation activities for customers in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries

10 Oct 2014

Leading industrial technology specialist Tracerco, part of Johnson Matthey Plc, has reaffirmed its commitment to the north east region of the UK with the official opening of its new 61,000 square feet Measurement Technology Centre in Billingham.

The £9 million investment, which houses 150 people, provides a custom built Research, Development and Engineering Test Centre for its team of scientists and engineers. It gives the business a platform to expand its measurement technology innovation endeavours for customers in the world's oil, gas and petrochemical industries.

Tracerco Discovery

The new building incorporates bespoke prototype, scale up and testing facilities for its instrumentation and subsea technologies. This includes a state-of-the-art testing module - complete with dedicated Factory Acceptance Test (FAT) control rooms - for the award winning Tracerco ProfilerTM instrument and a 30,000 litre underwater testing pool, designed especially for its newly invented Discovery CT scanner.

Robert MacLeod, Chief Executive, Johnson Matthey, officially opened the new centre at Tracerco's site in Belasis Hall Technology Park, Billingham on Thursday, 9th October.

Robert MacLeod (right) and Andy Hurst, Managing Director of Tracerco

"I am confident that the recent launch of Discovery, the world's first CT scanner for pipeline inspection, marks the first of many exciting, new innovations that Tracerco's customers can expect."

Tracerco received a £1 million grant from the 'Let's Grow' RGF programme following its commitment to expand its science and engineering team at BIllingham. Tracerco will recruit in excess of 50 new staff members as a result of the MTC development. 

Tracerco is a global oil and gas service company providing local support through an extensive range of bases and offices worldwide. With approximately 500 people in 32 service centres and with over 25 different nationalities, Tracerco aims to provide its customers with global coverage, with a local service culture.

Tracerco won an Institute of Physics (IOP) Award for Innovation in 2013 for its TracercoTM Optimus instrumentation, a coveted Queen's Award for Enterprise 2009 Innovation award for its radiation monitors, the third Queen's Award the company has collected in the past six years. Tracerco was also named North East 'Company of the Year' 2009 at regional awards for the North East of England.

Tracerco employs innovative technologies to measure, characterise and control process systems and diagnose operational problems in all aspects of the oil and gas production supply chain, these ranges from reservoir management through to refining for retail outlets which sell consumer fuel products. Tracerco's specialist technologies are used to increase production, reduce operating costs and optimise shutdown programmes. Tracerco also provides a range of unique tracer solutions used to tag hydrocarbons as part of anti-adulteration, anti-theft and environmental programmes. For further information about Tracerco visit www.tracerco.com

Johnson Matthey Plc is a speciality chemicals company focused on its core skills in catalysts, precious metals, fine chemicals and process technology. Johnson Matthey has operations in over 30 countries and employs around 12,000 people. Its products are sold around the world to a wide range of advanced technology industries.

Liz Griffiths, Golley Slater
lgriffiths@golleyslater.co.uk
+44 29 2078 6048