A new Welsh-based engineering collaboration, Celtico, has been launched to strengthen Wales鈥� role in delivering the UK鈥檚 next generation of renewable energy and low-carbon infrastructure projects.
Celtico brings together 12 established engineering and manufacturing companies from across South Wales to form a group capable of supporting large offshore wind, tidal range and wider energy transition projects.
The 12 聽founding companies collectively employ more than 1,400 people and turn over 拢250m a year. Their capabilities include fabrication, machining, marine engineering, coating, assembly and advanced manufacturing.
Rather than operating as a single company, Celtico has been created as a collaboration, offering developers, contractors and procurement agencies a single point of engagement backed by the combined scale, capability and experience of its members. The collaboration represents a Regional Centre of Excellence for Engineering in South Wales, designed to build a competitive regional supply chain for renewable energy and other complex infrastructure programmes.
The founding partners are:
- 3Ks Engineering Company
- Afon Engineering
- JES Group
- King Site Services (South West)
- Ledwood Mechanical Engineering
- Mainstay Marine Solutions
- Mii Engineering
- Pro-Steel Engineering
- Rhyal Engineering
- Site Heat Treatment Services
- Techno Engineering (Jenkins & Davies)
- Weldlec.
Discussions are taking place with additional companies interested in joining the collaboration.
Celtico is supported by the Swansea Bay City Deal Skills & Talent Programme, funded by the UK and Welsh governments, and works in partnership with the Regional Learning & Skills Partnership to align industry demand with skills development and workforce growth.
Celtico chairman Andrew Beer, who is also chair of the Regional Learning & Skills Partnership Manufacturing Cluster, explained: 鈥淐eltico was created to address a long-standing challenge. Wales has world-class engineering companies, but too often they鈥檝e been too small individually to access major contract packages. By coming together, we can offer the scale, capability and credibility required to compete for and deliver the UK鈥檚 most ambitious energy projects.
鈥淭his collaboration is about more than winning work. It鈥檚 about building a strong, resilient regional supply chain, keeping economic value in Wales, and ensuring local companies and people play a central role in the energy transition.鈥�
Nick Revell, managing director of Celtico member Ledwood Mechanical Engineering, added: 鈥淒evelopers are looking for certainty, speed and capability, and that鈥檚 exactly what Celtico provides. Our collaborative model gives clients a single, trusted route into a highly skilled regional supply chain, without the complexity of managing multiple contractors.
鈥淎t the same time, we鈥檙e creating real opportunities for Welsh businesses and workers by aligning delivery with skills, training and long-term capacity building. This is about setting Wales up to succeed not just in offshore wind and tidal range, but across the wider low-carbon economy.鈥�
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