The History of Stent
The name 'Stent' has been synonymous with piling since the formation of The Stent Precast Concrete Company in 1936 and its manufacture of precast concrete piles in Scotland.
The company carried out numerous piling contracts including a major contract in the early 1950's for The Ford Motor Company at Dagenham. In the intervening years, progress in foundation design and techniques resulted in the formation of Stent Piling Limited in 1973. The company offered a service of large diameter bored piles with auger rigs, small diameter bored piles with tripod rigs, driven universal bearing piles with leaders and diesel hammers and steel sheet piling. During this period Stent Piling's operations were mainly in Scotland and the North of England and were contracts of various sizes. The most important in this period were Renfrew Motorway, Blaydon by-pass, Glasgow Underground and Kielder Dam.
In 1976 the Stent parent company, Balfour Beatty Construction, was awarded (as a member of Mina Jebel Ali Contractors or MJ. A.C.) the contract to construct the 66 berth Jebel Ali port in Dubai. Stent was able to assist MJ. A.C. on this project and were deeply involved in the first two quays that were constructed by deep bored and driven clutched pipe piles. During the same period a branch office was opened in Teddington and piling works were carried out in the South of England. The company introduced other piling systems, such as the concrete segmental pile ('Stent-Drive') and driven cast in-situ piles ('Stent-Force'). In 1976, due to geographical and technical expansion, it was decided to name the company Stent Foundations Limited.
The company continued its expansion throughout the U.K. and on completion of its work in Jebel Ali set up its own office in Dubai. In 1978, during what was then a difficult market, contracts such as the construction of more than 2000 Stent Force piles at Peel Common near Portsmouth and more than 500 large diameter bored piles for the Gulf Hotel in Abu Dhabi were carried out. The following year showed a depressed market in construction in the Middle East. Stent took the opportunity to expand its techniques and areas of operation. A joint venture company was set up in Thailand with Seafco to form Stent-Seafco and was rewarded with the piling contract for the Condominium Tai Ping Tower. Vibroreplacement contracts were also awarded in Dubai and in the U.K. A London office was opened in 1981 and in 1984 Stent introduced one of the first hydraulic CFA rigs into the UK. The company also cemented a long-standing association with Soletanche of France by forming the Stent-Soletanche Joint Venture. This successful association (which continued until 1994) carried out some notable geotechnical contracts including foundations for the Sizewell 'B' Nuclear Power Station, the Eurostar Terminal at Waterloo Station, a new headquarters for John Lewis plc in Kingston upon Thames, North Shields Bypass and Limehouse Link in London.
The company continued to expand and in 1991 moved into sheet piling with the acquisition of 3M Foundations, a sheet piling specialist based in Oxford. A further major acquisition in 1991 expanded the company's capacity in the precast piling market when Stent purchased Hercules Piling. The company has invested heavily in precast piling products, building a new factory at Stent's plant facility in Nottinghamshire. Further expansion is planned for 2007. In 2005 Stent acquired Pennine Vibropiling, one of the UK's leading ground improvement specialists thus expanding the company's capability in ground engineering.
Stent is now one of the top three piling contractors in the UK. Its overseas work continues to the present day - projects in Dubai (The Burj al Arab Hotel) and USA (Carquinez Bridge, Golden Gate retrofit and Boston-New York Amtrak Rail line) are recent examples. The UK remains Stent's largest market. The company now has a turnover exceeding £80 million and employs approximately 500 people working out of seven strategically placed offices. It remains a Balfour Beatty Group Company.
