Contract for million rail sleepers secures 70 jobs.

Byline: LARRY NEILD

A WIRRAL company has beaten tough international competition to win a multi-million pound exclusive contract to supply Britain's rail system with more than a million steel railway line sleepers.

Barclays Bank Business Support unit and Business Link rallied around the Wallasey family business to ensure GMT Manufacturing won the contest.

At stake were the jobs of 70 people and the future of a company with a turnover of pounds 3m a year.

Network Rail has awarded the five-year contract to GMT, which will manufacture the steel sleepers at its factory in Old Gorsey Lane, Wallasey.

The company has already supplied 500, 000 of the sleepers to the rail network as a sub-contactor to the steel giant Corus. GMT has now won the new contract in its own right as a sole supplier of the steel sleepers after facing competition for the contract from an American manufacturer as well as Corus.

Company directors Peter Gardner, his wife Diane and finance director Nigel Bramley, who is a chartered accountant, sought the help of Barclays to help fund the transition from being a sub-contractor to a sole supplier.

Barclays advanced enough cash to ensure the operation ran seamlessly until the contract was signed, ensuring staff were paid and bills paid to suppliers.

Last night, Mr Gardner explained: ``It was an exciting time, to say the least, as well as traumatic in some respects, because we were not in a position to fully finance the start of such a big contract.

``The bank came in, realised the size of the contract on offer and helped out in the transition between the old arrangement and the new one. ''

Mr Bramley said: ``Barclays understood what the problem was and their advisors worked out a way forward. We were also helped by Business Link in the tendering process. ''

Mr Gardner added: ``We had already supplied 500, 000 sleepers as a sub-contractor to Corus so Network Rail knew the quality and standard of our workmanship.

``I believe that the quality of our product, as well as our team of workers here in Wallasey, helped us to win the contract. Network Rail was also impressed with our technical abilities, as well as the fact that we are able to produce other products they may need for the rail system.

``It is difficult to say what would have happened if we had not won. If the contract had gone to the US, we would have lost out and so would Corus who currently supply the steel for the sleepers. Everything is going smoothly with the contract and we are delighted. ''

Mr Gardner and his wife started the engineering business 30 years ago, with the operation undergoing an expansion in the mid 1990s when Mr Bramley joined.

The company has a two-acre site, with a production unit and a storage area for 20, 000 sleepers.

Network Rail has opted for steel sleepers saying they have proven to be more efficient and economic than concrete ones.