Two Suffolk engineering consultancy businesses have teamed up in a strategic alliance that expands the services they can offer to clients in the eastern region.

Ipswich-based Superstructures, which provides structural design services, and Ingent Consulting Engineers, who have offices in Brightwell and Bury St Edmunds and supply specialist civil engineering design, are working in a collaborative partnering arrangement to offer a broad ranging engineering capability.

James Potter managing director of Superstructures said: “It really is the adage that ‘together we are stronger’, as Ingent brings the expertise in civils and drainage design and Superstructures has the expertise in the building structural design. The specialist design know-how each can offer combines to produce an overall capability suited to bigger schemes across a range of sectors including commercial, education and residential. It also means we can now service the largest commercial projects which are beyond the capability of smaller individual disciplines.”

Richard Wigzell, managing director of Ingent, added: “Many clients want to use an engineering design practice that provides both capabilities. This arrangement benefits us and is a ‘good fit’. It not only allows us to act autonomously, but when we work together we can bring the greater resource of a 40-strong team, with technically qualified professionals whose combined experience can be measured in hundreds of years.”

The two businesses have been working together for the last 18 months and during that time they have delivered engineering services on over 25 projects including the £30m Suffolk Glasshouse scheme at Great Blakenham just outside Ipswich, the new John Grose showroom in Ipswich and several schemes on the Essex Schools framework.

“Ultimately this move will enable us both to develop our businesses and grow our workforce, as together we have stronger capability to provide a complete structural and civils engineering service.” James added.