A business using helicopters to conduct aerial surveys has signed a £20 million, eight-year contract to examine the UK’s gas pipelines.
The deal, between Helicentre Aviation and the National Grid, is the UK’s biggest onshore contract for this type of work. It will use aerial survey equipment to check the gas lines throughout the country.
Chief pilot and business co-owner, Capt Sarah Bowen, told the Leicester Mercury: "We've run smaller surveying contracts for some years, but it's a big bonus to have been awarded one for such a long period of time.
Sarah Bowen, Helicentre MD
"We have around 20 people at the moment and expect that to increase to in excess of 30 in the next couple of years."
The contract will also result in a further four helicopters to add to the 12 already based at Helicentre’s headquarters at Leicester Airport. The company has also moved into a larger hangar and improved its offices as a result of the deal.
In addition to offering survey services, the business also trains private and professional helicopter pilots.
The magnitude of the National Grid contract will take the business’s turnover to “a different level” and allow Helicentre to tender for more large surveying contracts, co-owner Capt Christopher Line said.