Rail supply, maintenance and logistics company CWE Ltd has officially opened its new commercial site at RaisE Business Centre in Goole, East Riding of Yorkshire.

The firm’s Commercial Director, Dave Bates, will lead the new site, which aims to expand the company’s refurbishment services, supporting the rail sector to keep rolling stock in service for more of the time.

CWE celebrated the opening on 3 July by welcoming its customers, the wider rail industry and firms based at RaisE Business Centre to meet its staff and view its latest innovations to cut carbon emissions and improve train maintenance.

RaisE Business Centre brands itself “the beating heart of Goole’s Rail Village”, and provides facilities and expertise for companies of all sizes to develop, test, validate and use low-carbon technologies, which it hopes will encourage further investment from the UK Rail Sector.

One current project uses laser technology to precisely remove rust and contaminants from wagon components, which removes the need to use harsh chemicals, and so reduces the environmental impact of refurbishment work.

During the opening day, Managing Director Nick Andrew talked about the need to invest in engineering talent to bridge the gap between education and the world of work, particularly in manufacturing, engineering and the rail sector. Andrew has been nominated to be a Greater Lincolnshire Careers Champion, because of his positive impact on career education during this academic year. This year’s Champions will be announced at a ceremony on 13 July.

Andrew said: “This new investment is an exciting development that supports CWE’s ambitious growth plans. We believe the new site at Goole will create added capacity at our engineering facilities and increase our ability to meet future demand as we expand our partnerships within the rail industry. It is also fantastic to join the other innovative rail sector businesses and academia at RaisE, growing Goole and Yorkshire as a key centres of the UK Rail Industry.

“Last year, we established our Centre of Excellence for Rail in Crowle, bringing together all our capabilities under one roof. Now, with the expansion into Goole, we are well positioned to provide our customers with a more efficient service and ultimately better support them to meet their growth and sustainability requirements.

“This has been a fantastic year so far, and we’re proud of where we are and what we’ve achieved. We feel like we are going from strength to strength – and we have no plans to slow down. We want to keep speaking to young people, having an impact in our local communities, pushing the need to act on the skills gap, growing the team and signing major new contracts. I’m excited to see what the rest of the year will bring!”