(Pictured left to right): Laurens Oldenzeel, Head of Projects, Qlayers and Jim Collier, Operations Director, Denholm Industrial Services with a Qlayers mobile coatings robot.

Denholm Industrial Services, part of the Denholm Group, has formed a partnership with Qlayers to deploy its mobile coatings robots to projects in sectors including marine and tank storage.

Working in challenging environments, Denholm Industrial Services provides critical engineering support that enables the build and maintenance of power, infrastructure, and naval and commercial marine assets.

In partnership with Netherlands-based Qlayers, a leader in pioneering industrial coating application technologies, Denholm Industrial Services is investing in innovative solutions that deliver efficiencies to clients, enhance operative safety, improve project productivity and protect the environment.

Qlayers has developed advanced robotic systems for coating large industrial assets, including storage tanks and marine vessels. The company’s unique technology, a patented spray shielding system, significantly mitigates overspray, reducing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) and microplastics emissions.

The technology also enhances efficiency and accelerates project timelines with the capability to apply multiple layers much faster than manual application.  Further savings are achieved through the robots’ automated coating method, which notably reduces overspray, resulting in paint savings of up to 50 percent.

In addition, its precision application method ensures consistent coating thickness, and the ability to deliver precise feathering between rows. The robots also improve site safety, significantly mitigating fall risks by reducing operative working hours at heights by 85 percent.

As part of the partnership, Denholm Industrial Services has secured exclusive rights to deploy Qlayers’ technologies in the UK marine sector and is already deployed across the UK.  The agreement will also enable Denholm Industrial Services to build its presence in the tank storage market.

Operative training took place following Denholm Industrial Services’ recent acquisition of a majority shareholding in Universal Coatings.  The acquisition has created a new company, Denholm Universal, and advanced training for operatives delivering the first UK marine project utilising Qlayers’ robotic coating technology took place at its 11,500 sq metre blast and coating facility on Teesside.

Steve Hill, Managing Director, Denholm Industrial Services, said: “This partnership with Qlayers is an essential component of our strategy to evolve the business’ capabilities through technology-led solutions, while increasing the diverse skills and competencies of our experienced operatives.

“Qlayers’ technology is truly groundbreaking for our industry and will deliver efficiency and productivity gains, alongside environmental enhancements, which are vitally important.

“This is another demonstration, following our recent acquisition to create Denholm Universal, of our intentions to provide greater and more comprehensive support for UK sectors such as marine and tank storage.  As well as now operating one of the largest coatings facilities in Britain, located on Teesside, we are also able to utilise innovative robotics coatings technology in the field.”

Josefien Groot, CEO, Qlayers, said: “We are proud to have partnered with Denholm Industrial Services. The company shares our vision to revolutionise our industry through the creation and application of innovative robotic technologies.

“Our robots represent a significant step forward in industrial coating technology and will add value to the contracts secured by Denholm Industrial Services.  Having delivered a comprehensive advanced training programme for its operatives, we are confident that we will see a strong pipeline of applications for our technologies through Denholm Industrial Services.”

Work has begun on a major new £30m mackerel and herring processing facility and cold-store upgrade for Denholm Seafoods in Peterhead, which will result in increased efficiencies, enhanced product quality and a lower carbon footprint.

The investment – one of the largest ever undertaken by a wild-caught fish processing company in Scotland – will deliver a state-of-the-art fish handling and storage system, which will benefit the Scottish pelagic (mackerel, herring and blue whiting) fleet and provide opportunities to develop new markets.

The upgrade will enable Denholm Seafoods to increase its daily freezing capacity, and boost cold storage capacity to 19,000 tonnes. The investment includes the construction of a new 12,000 square metres cold store adjacent to the current Denholm Seafoods processing site at Peterhead harbour, which will be completed by late summer 2023.

The new facility has been designed with future expansion in mind with the potential to significantly increase freezing and storage capacity.

In tandem with the new cold store, the existing Denholm Seafoods processing facility will be refurbished with the installation of a sophisticated and highly automated turnkey fish processing system designed and supplied by Skaginn 3X. This phase of the project will be completed by summer 2024 and will result in significant savings in energy and packaging costs, as well as enabling greater volumes of fish to be handled.

The provision of a new low pressure pump system to offload mackerel, herring and blue whiting catches from boats on the quayside will deliver fish quality benefits, which will be further enhanced by a new non-pressure plate freezing system that freezes the end-product much quicker than before.

The facility’s ‘intelligent’ process is designed to take about six hours from the time the raw material enters the factory through to final storage of the end frozen product. The project upgrade will deliver energy savings in the region of 30 to 40 per cent, contributing towards Scotland’s net zero targets.

Richard Duthie, managing director of Denholm Seafoods, said, “We are tremendously excited by this new investment, which will deliver benefits to Scotland’s important pelagic sector, and provide us with a platform for new growth.

“With soaring energy costs and the need to increase efficiency, product quality and automation, this project will ensure we remain competitive in a global marketplace and enable us to develop markets in key areas such as the Far East. It will, for example, enable us to explore new opportunities in value-added processing by providing increased flexibility in meeting customer requirements.

“Research has shown that Scottish mackerel production already has a much lower carbon footprint compared to most other types of protein production, and this new facility will enhance that green reputation even further.”

The project was supported by £2.8m of funding under Defra’s £100m UK Seafood fund and £1.2m from Marine Scotland.

Global Seafood Assurances, a non-profit organisation building seafood supply chain assurance for the future, has announced that several fishing vessels, including Denholm Seafoods’ partner vessel, Taits, are the first UK vessels to be certified to the Responsible Fishing Vessel Standard. The progress made in the UK in certifying the initial vessels has been possible thanks to the commitment of retailers and brands such as Marks & Spencer, Morrisons, The Big Prawn Company and Waitrose.

Denholm Seafoods’ pelagic fish processing factory is supplied primarily by the boats that are owned by its partners, who together work collaboratively to ensure quality landings.

Read the full update here.