Work begins on £5.6m Romax building at University's Innovation Park

 Romax1
30 May 2013 16:42:58.360

Work has started on the development of a new building for Romax Technology, one of the world’s leading gearbox, bearing and driveline engineering companies.

The company is moving its Nottingham headquarters to a new and larger site at The University of Nottingham’s Innovation Park (UNIP). The new, purpose built 3100m2 premises facility, which is being developed by GF Tomlinson, will incorporate offices, a training suite and laboratory space and will also give the company space to grow into in the future. 

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Rapid expansion
Romax has rapidly expanded its simulation technology and drivetrain design business and has been growing at a rapid rate in recent years. The company anticipates that many new jobs will be created over the next three to five years, resulting in a staffing level in excess of 200 at the UK HQ.

The move to the new premises will also help the company to achieve its corporate objectives, according to Chief Executive, Dr Peter Poon.

“Strengthening the East Midlands is very important to us,” said Dr Poon. “Our connections with the University provide a perfect opportunity for Romax to continue to work with strategic partners on the latest innovations, technologies and processes that will benefit the economy. The move will undoubtedly be a great one for Romax in the next stage of its development.”

A £5.6m development
A large number of businesses are already based on UNIP, but the Romax building will mark the first bespoke commercial development at the park. The cost of the development is £5.6 million, and the University will lease the premises to Romax for an initial period of 10 years. 

Speaking at the groundbreaking of the new building, Professor David Greenaway, Vice-Chancellor of The University of Nottingham, said: “This is a very exciting development for us. Romax is a world class quality business, so to have them based at The University of Nottingham Innovation Park is a tremendous boost for the University.

“Romax will be undertaking state-of-the-art research and development work here and will be creating many new jobs over the coming years, helping to boost the local economy.”

Made with the latest building technologies
Romax promotes green energy in the products and solutions it develops for customers and the new building will reflect this. Developed by GF Tomlinson, the new building will utilise the latest sustainable and environmentally friendly building technologies, as well as aiming to achieve a BREEAM Excellent rating for the project. These technologies include the use of sustainable construction techniques, including biomass heating, building heat recovery and reuse, waste water recycling, solar shading and a biodiverse green roof.


Speaking about the development, Stuart Lawrence, Managing Director of GF Tomlinson Building Limited, said: “We are delighted to be working with The University of Nottingham once again on the Jubilee Campus and are proud to deliver this bespoke office development for Romax Technology.  We are eager to provide a state-of-the-art office facility using our extensive experience of the latest sustainable construction techniques to realise Romax’s vision for this important building.”   

A long partnership
The University of Nottingham has enjoyed a long history of partnering with Romax. The company has undertaken a Knowledge Transfer Partnership with the University, as well as collaborating on major energy and aerospace research projects and providing placement and full-time employment opportunities for university students. 

Romax and the University were also instrumental in helping to persuade Changan Automobile, the Chinese car manufacturer, to establish its European R&D centre in Nottingham.

For more information about Romax, visit www.romaxtech.com  


For details about the University’s services for business, visit www.nottingham.ac.uk/servicesforbusiness

—Ends—

Photo shows, left to right: Stuart Lawrence, MD of GF Tomlinson, Dr Peter Poon, CEO of Romax and Professor David Greenaway, Vice-Chancellor, The University of Nottingham.

More information is available from Mirelle Ball, Marketing Executive, Romax Technology, on +44 (0)115 951 8870, mirelle.ball@romaxtech.com; Nick King, Marketing Projects Manager, The University of Nottingham, on +44 (0)115 823 2184, nicholas.king@nottingham.ac.uk; or Tracey Swift, Marketing Co-ordinator, GF Tomlinson, on +44 (0)1332 342 202, t.swift@gftomlinson.co.uk

Notes to editors: 

About Romax Technologies Limited 
Founded in 1989, Romax is a global leader, providing solutions to design, develop, deploy and monitor drivelines for application in the automotive, heavy equipment, aerospace and wind energy sectors. Its portfolio ranges from drivetrain health management to conceptual modelling and calculation right through to whole system detailed design and analysis. 


Based on open standards, Romax solutions enable its customers to achieve accelerated time to market, reduced costs, improved innovation, higher quality, increased efficiency and more predictable uptime across their driveline design, development and monitoring processes. The solutions deliver a proven combination of innovative technology, engineering excellence and design expertise to optimise business performance while reducing carbon emissions. 

Romax has over 300 customers worldwide, including the majority of OEMs across the automotive and wind industries. The company has over 10 approved patents for its solutions, with an additional 44 pending in driveline innovation and excellence. It has won a number of industry awards, including two Queens Awards for Enterprise in International Trade. 

Romax is headquartered in Nottingham, United Kingdom and operates through 12 offices globally. For more information, visit www.romaxtech.com

About UNIP
The University of Nottingham Innovation Park is a research and technology-focused innovation park. It offers an excellent business location for a wide range of high-growth businesses and our ever increasing number of world-class research teams, and is located just two miles from Nottingham city centre.

For more information about UNIP, visit www.nottingham.ac.uk/unip

About the new Romax Building at UNIP
The Romax Building is the latest of a new group of research facilities to be constructed on The University of Nottingham’s Innovation Park. 

The building will provide approximately 3100m² of space, comprising open plan research offices, a training suite, and laboratory spaces to accommodate Romax staff.

The building takes the form of three storey pavilion type wings, either side of a central, glass fronted core, which contains the main entrance foyer, staircase and lift as well as office accommodation on the upper levels.

The central section is trapezoidal in plan, and the flank walls of polished blockwork extend out beyond the line of the building embracing a new entrance piazza, welcoming visitors to the building.  The roof of the central core is a dramatic streamlined plane giving the building a strong identity.

The building will incorporate many environmentally sustainable design principles, to reduce its impact on the environment.  External solar shading on the south and west elevations will minimise summer heat gain, natural ventilation through openable windows and the use of the thermal mass of exposed concrete floor soffits will control temperatures in both winter and summer, and the roof is a  bio diverse green sward.


The building will also employ a renewable heat source, and is being designed to achieve a BREEAM ‘Excellent’ rating.

About GF Tomlinson
GF Tomlinson is a family owned regional contractor operating throughout the Midlands. 

Established since 1892, GF Tomlinson can deliver value for money solutions to their Clients, with expertise in new build, refurbishment and restoration schemes.  

The Company’s portfolio includes projects from within the Education, Commercial, Healthcare, Leisure, Retail, Civic, Waste and Industrial sectors, where their customer focussed approach ensures they retain a valued Client base. 

G F Tomlinson was responsible for the successful delivery of The University of Nottingham’s Institute of Mental Health Building and the Si Yuan Centre to a BREEAM Excellent rating, on the Jubilee Campus. Both projects have been shortlisted as a finalist in the National Construction News Awards 2013 in the Project of the Year (under £10m in value) category. 

Story credits

 For more details about the story, contact Bob Scott, Director of University of Nottingham Innovation Park, (UNIP), on 0115 823 2261, or email bob.scott@nottingham.ac.uk
Nick King  

Nick King - Marketing and Communications Manager, Energy Research Accelerator (ERA)

Email: nicholas.king@nottingham.ac.uk Phone: +44 (0)115 74 86727 Location: Coates Building, Faculty of Engineering, University Park Nottingham

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