Like our scaffolding systems, Burflex Scaffolding is founded on quality, integrity and consistency. Our head office is based in Hull, we also have contact offices in Sheffield and Leeds.
Construction work has begun in expanding Lincoln’s Science and Innovation Park, which is set to double the park in size.
The beginning of Phase Two, which sees builders, developers and scaffolders in Lincoln working to expand the park by six acres, is a joint venture between Lincolnshire Co-op and the University of Lincoln.
It comes seven years after the initial work began on the park in 2013, and three years after the opening of Boole Technology Centre in 2017 which signposted the completion of Phase One of the project.
Due to a rapid increase in demand and expansion of several businesses that call Boole Technology Centre their home, a second building located nearby is under construction and set to be completed by July.
One of the more unique aspects of the construction of the Science And Innovation Park is its connection to Lincolnshire industry heritage.
The site is built on the original Ruston Bucyrus factory based in the centre of Lincoln and has kept much of the original layout and building design.
The former headquarters, Becor House and the former substation that powered the factory are now part of Boole Technology Centre.
The company, a joint merger between Ruston and Hornsby and American company Bucyrus-Erie, was formed in 1930, which the former tracing its roots back to 1918 and the latter to 1880.
The Lincoln-based company was at one point the world’s leader in heavy oil and diesel engines, as well as creating a variety of steam and traction engines.
They were always more of an engine producer than a machine company, which only changed once it merged with Bucyrus and became a leading part of the gas turbine industry, becoming Europe’s leading supplier.
They also pioneered producing electricity and heat, in an early form of waste heat network and would continue to be one of the largest manufacturers in the world of construction and mining equipment until 1985.
This was when the Lincoln-based management bought out the parent company and severed all links with its American partner.
In 2000, the renamed R-B International entered administration, and its eventual buyer, Langley Holdings plc, closed the long-running Lincoln factory.
This would eventually enable Lincolnshire Co-op and the University of Lincoln to set up a joint venture in 2012 to convert the long-standing factory to a business and innovation park.
Ruston & Hornsby, the initial owners of the factory, would last until 2003, where after a series of buyouts and mergers would eventually be purchased by multinational conglomerate Siemens.
Bucyrus-Erie, on the other hand, would struggle after the buyout and sale of Ruston Bucyrus, eventually filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection (the US version of filing for administration).
It would continue to build mining and construction machines until 2010, when it was bought out by Caterpillar in a deal worth $8.6bn and was made defunct in July 2011.
The Science and Innovation Park continues a legacy for innovation in Lincoln that has endured for well over a century.
