Bolton’s Booth Industries secures additional HS2 contract worth £4.5m
Bolton-based Booth Industries, part of Avingtrans PLC’s Advanced Engineering Systems (AES) division, has won a new £4.5 million contract to supply pressure-rated fire doors for HS2.
The contract builds on Booth Industries’ existing presence on the project, having previously secured a £36m contract in September 2020 to provide cross passage doors for the London to West Midlands phase of the route.
Booth Industries is part of listed industrial business Avingtrans PLC’s AES division which designs, manufactures, installs and services doors and walls.
Avingtrans PLC designs, manufactures and supplies original equipment, systems and associated aftermarket services to the energy, medical and industrial markets worldwide.
Mike Jenkinson
Mike Jenkinson, managing director of Booth Industries, said: “This contract is a great way to start the year and recognises the significant expertise we have developed over the years when it comes to the design and manufacture of high-performance doorsets for some of the world’s most demanding environments.
“When we secured the original HS2 contract, we undertook extensive design, development and testing to create a door that can withstand high-pressure shockwaves over more than 5 million cycles. This has delivered doors with a design life exceeding 30 years, with learnings now being applied to the bespoke designs created for this new pressure-door contract.”
Booth will begin mass production of the cross-passage sliding doorsets in its 600m², state-of-the-art production cell towards the end of 2025. Designed to meet a CO2 emission rate of 38.2kg/CO2/m2, the new facility uses a variety of thermal, lighting and energy-saving advances to improve the energy efficiency of the building and limit CO2 emissions.
The new contract will also be fulfilled in this advanced production facility, with the first doorsets scheduled for delivery in 2026.
Austen Adams, divisional managing director of Avingtrans’ AES division, added: “The new contract is fantastic news for Booth and represents a significant step forward for the business. Both sets of safety doors will play a crucial role in the operation of the railway, sealing off passageways between tunnels and providing access in case of emergency.
“With trains capable of travelling at speeds of up to 250mph passing within metres of the doors, they not only need to provide reliable fire integrity and insulation but also to withstand a wide range of challenging day-to-day environmental and fatigue pressures. Both doorsets have already set new benchmarks for the industry and we are delighted to see Booth reinforcing its position as an innovator in the sector, developing specialist products with genuine global market potential.”
