A NEW ERA FOR WAKEFIELD ACOUSTICS

Wakefield Acoustics has recently been acquired by CECO Environmental, a leading environmentally focused, diversified industrial company whose solutions protect people, the environment, and industrial equipment across the globe, serving a broad landscape of industrial air, industrial water and energy transition markets.

The products and services offered by Wakefield Acoustics are complementary to the ‘Thermal Acoustics’ platform of CECO Environmental, and we will work closely with our new colleagues at CECO Aarding Thermal Acoustics based in Nunspeet, Netherlands. The acquisition will give Wakefield Acoustics an international platform for our innovative industrial noise control solutions.

The acquisition follows a strong period of growth for the company, particularly in standby power generator for the UK data centre market, and peaking power plants which are core to continued expansion over the coming months and years. On the recent news, Wakefield Acoustics Managing Director, Kevin Still said “the demand across the UK and Europe for standby power systems is continuing to grow, and as part of a global organisation, we will be able to explore opportunities to deliver our expertise to a wider international market”.

Acoustically insulated containers for the power industry have been designed and manufactured in the UK by Wakefield Acoustics for a number of years, alongside it’s traditional industrial acoustic enclosure, attenuator and acoustic panel product lines. Given current demands, it has been necessary to re-visit traditional manufacturing approaches to the product in order to accelerate manufacturing lead times, and meet client and market expectations. The introduction of offline / parallel manufacture methods has resulted in the final build time of a typical largescale container to be reduced by around 40%, improved workflow in the factory, and ensures optimal utilisation of space in the factory. Afterall, the units being fabricated can take up a floor space of 40-50m2 each for some of the larger 4.5m wide units, so the quicker these can be fabricated and delivered to site the better for the client and good for us too!

For our standard range of acoustic containers, we now offer in-house spray painting in our recently built paint facility, completed towards the end of 2022.

Paint systems are selected according to the environmental categorisation as per ISO 12944 and have been developed in conjunction with our independent paint specialist to ensure longevity of the product once on site.

Whilst the final appearance and quality of the acoustical container is of utmost importance, we must not forget the prime purpose of the product, and that is the noise reduction properties to ensure compliance with project specifications, environmental noise requirements, and the Control of Noise at Work Regulations. The company has a 40+ year history in resolving complex noise issues across a range of industrial sectors, and the power industry is a prime area for us to show our expertise given the high noise levels associated with a gas or diesel engine driven generation plant. The common goal in developing solutions to protect the environment and people are, the key ingredients in why Wakefield Acoustics and CECO Environmental corporation are such a good fit, and the company and our employees look forward to the future opportunities this will bring.

FURTHER INFORMATION ON THE HISTORY AND PRODUCTS SUPPLIED BY WAKEFIELD ACOUSTICS CAN BE FOUND AT WWW.WAKEFIELDACOUSTICS.CO.UK

FOR INFORMATION ON OUR NEW PARENT COMPANY, CECO ENVIRONMENTAL, PLEASE VISIT WWW.CECOENVIRO.COM