A Barnsley firm which recycles some of Britain's biggest pieces of electrical kit is powering towards the future thanks to £4 million of developments.

C Soar & Sons (UK) Ltd is the country's largest specialist in dismantling, recycling and disposing of redundant equipment, such as transformers, generators and switchgear, from the electricity industry.  All but 1.5 per cent of materials end up being recycled. 

New investment at the company's base in Tank Row, Stairfoot, which has been bolstered by business support organisation Enterprising Barnsley, have created ten new jobs and aim to ensure the family-run company goes from strength to strength.  

C Soar & Sons was set up more than 50 years ago by the late Clarence Soar as a general scrap merchant, but he moved in to dismantling electrical equipment, some of which was left from the Second World War. Sons Michael and Colin run the business today along with other members of the family.   

The company has long-term contracts with major electricity companies, including Scottish and Southern Energy, UK Power Networks, Scottish Power and Northern Powergrid. It also undertakes works on behalf of the National Grid and the power generation sector. 

C Soar & Sons, which used to also have a site on Upper Sheffield Road, recently bought two acres of former council land and an adjacent builders' yard on Tank Row so it could extend and bring all of its operations onto one site.

Facilities have been redeveloped over 18 months creating a six acre, state-of-the-art site incorporating new offices, training rooms and testing laboratory.

Licensed to process all types of electrical equipment, the company specialises in the safe removal of supersize electrical plant. It has designed and developed its own heavy-duty roller system to allow transformers, which weigh up to 600 tonnes, to be moved and loaded onto trailers.

Business support from Enterprising Barnsley helped the company bring its plans to fruition.

Operations manager Dale Evans said:  "Investing in facilities and staff to maintain the specialist engineering knowledge and logistics experience of our workforce has been of great importance to us, so we are extremely pleased that we have been able to achieve this expansion and remain in Barnsley.

"Enterprising Barnsley did a lot of the legwork for the negotiations as well as assisting with our expansion plans and the consolidation of two sites into one. It has been great to have that expert help and it has allowed us to keep nearly 40 jobs in Barnsley and create an extra 10."

Dale added that the company prides itself on providing a 'total package' to ensure complete peace of mind for clients.

"Over the years we've managed the dismantling of plant of every shape and size and handle over 10,000 tonnes every year. We've built up a reputation for operating in an ethical and responsible manner as well as safeguarding the environment and the well-being of our employees and clients.  

"We hope that our recent investment will help us to become recognised as the centre of expertise in the disposal of power transformers."

Enterprising Barnsley is a partnership between Barnsley Development Agency and Barnsley Business and Innovation Centre.

The Enterprising Barnsley programme is supported financially by the European Union. Phase two of the project has attracted £2,259,511 investment from the European Regional Development Fund as part of Europe's support for the region's economic development through the Yorkshire and Humber ERDF Programme.