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We are proud to announce our small involvement in carrying out essential fire protection works at the newly opened North East Nightingale Hospital in Washington.

As a result of our long history of carrying out work for local NHS trusts we were approached by the Project Manager Rob Lees to assist in carrying out a very tight programme of works to ensure the hospital could be declared as “finished on time” in order to meet the demanding government requirements for the project. We are pleased and proud to say that all Isoler objectives were met and signed off.

The company responsible for the fire protection in many of the landmark buildings in North East England, including the Metro Centre, St James’ Park and Sage Gateshead, is celebrating 25 years in business.

Isoler, based in Team Valley, Gateshead, provides a comprehensive range of building integrity services to the public sector and the construction industry. It offers an expert consultancy and installation service for fire protection, fire stopping, air sealing and acoustic separation to new and existing buildings.

Managing Director John Gilstin recalls that when Isoler started in 1992 he had a temporary office in an ensuite bathroom, but as he says “great oaks from little acorns grow”. Now 25 years later, Isoler employs a core of 36 site workers and 8 office staff, and is highly regarded as a specialist business at the top of its game. As well as being an essential part of major construction projects, such as the University Hospital of North Durham, Isoler has also been solely responsible for fire protection in 200 schools in recent years.

John Gilstin said: “Over the last 25 years in our industry there have been some important advances but many of the basics have not changed. Preventing the collapse of buildings by protecting the structural steel remains a major part of our work but now there is also an emphasis on compartmentation to stop the spread of fire. We provide expertise that can save lives.”

In 2006 Isoler was acquired by Northern Bear plc and became part of a group of building services businesses. “This has been very good for Isoler,” said John Gilstin. “Northern Bear has seen us through hard times. I doubt we would have survived the downturn following the financial crash of 2008 without the backing of Northern Bear.”

We are proactively working in partnership with Sir Robert McAlpine to deliver fire protection to the Priority Schools programme.  Our works involve structural and passive fire protection along with air sealing and acoustic installations.   Works are ongoing to various site throughout the programme.

We continue the success of WHI Premier Inn Extension projects which begun in December 2015 with Talpore, Preston Farm, Derby West, Derby South, Brindley Place Birmingham, Newhaven and Nottingham West handed over on time and budget.

Through all of these locations we have installed a fully tested Hilti Approved System, in accordance with our clients specification.

Working alongside Kier Construction at Northgate Hospital in Morpeth we are installing thermal insulation to soffit, fire stopping of service penetrations and fire barriers.

A successful joint venture project in association with other Northern Bear companies to renovate and enhance student accommodation in Newcastle.

The project had a very tight programme and several challenges due to the age of the building.

Both structural and passive fire protection systems have been enhanced along with the building compartmentation.

The building was handed over on time to allow the new students to move in to a compliant building.

Specialist in-house resources from Chirmarn, MGM and Northern Bear Building Services were pooled to deliver a one-stop-shop solution for the client.