Carleton High School, Pontefract

This £19m project for The Department of Education (DfE) includes a new school building with state-of-the-art classrooms, science labs, creative tech spaces and enhanced sports facilities. Morgan Sindall Construction and building services subcontractor, Ivegate, utilised Gripple’s Fast Trak system, Cable Tray Clips and Cable Basket Clips to suspend M&E services on-site.

  • Building Type: Education
  • Services: Electrical / Pipework
  • Gripple Products: Fast Trak, Cable Tray Clips & Cable Basket Clips
  • Location: Pontefract, West Yorkshire, UK

Carleton High School opened in September 2025. This redevelopment project in Pontefract included the construction of a new three-storey building and two external canopies alongside the refurbishment of existing sports facilities. As part of the ‘School Rebuilding Programme’ all works were carried out to meet DfE technical standards and the project has been designed to be Net Zero Carbon in Operation (NZCiO) to ensure all buildings can be more resilient to the effects of climate change.

The Fast Trak system is very good – it’s made a real difference on-site. It’s quick. We installed bracketry in a single day, which would normally take a week using threaded rod and strut - it’s has been a huge time-saver. You also get excellent flexibility as you can easily adjust the brackets to prevent clashes with other services.
MEP Project Manager, Ivegate

The DfE appointed Morgan Sindall as the main contractor for the build programme. Morgan Sindall typically deploys ‘fire watchers’ across all new construction sites to oversee hot works and ensure compliance with building regulations. Hot works include the use of angle grinders and other heat-generating tools which are often required to prepare building materials onsite. From a mechanical and electrical (M&E) perspective, this frequently involves subcontractors cutting threaded rod, channel supports and other materials to length for suspending building services. However, on this project, Morgan Sindall and Ivegate chose to take a different approach by using Gripple’s game-changing Fast Trak suspension system which is delivered to site all ready to be installed.

Fast Trak gave us an M&E bracket solution for the corridors and classrooms within the school. This is a quality product, that gives a great uniform look, especially with so many exposed soffits. The figures speak for themselves in terms of material weight, labour hours and embodied carbon savings.
Senior Building Services Manager, Morgan Sindall Construction

By using Gripple, Morgan Sindall eliminated the need for hot works permits and dedicated fire watchers. Gripple products require no on-site cutting or material preparation which ensures services can be installed faster and safer than traditional methods. Gripple’s innovative Fast Trak system was installed by subcontractor Ivegate to suspend cable baskets and trays from the concrete soffit on each floor. Fast Trak features a prefabricated slotted channel, and its patented ‘Track’ and ‘Cartridge’ design enables the installation of a complete trapeze bracket up to six times faster than conventional rod and strut systems. Ivegate also utilised Gripple’s range of Cable Basket Clips and Cable Tray Clips to efficiently secure all Fast Trak brackets to cable containment on-site. These clips feature a quick twist design ensuring they can be installed without needing any hand tools.

Morgan Sindall successfully delivered a quicker and safer build thanks to Gripple’s Fast Trak system which significantly reduced manual handling of materials and minimised the time spent working at height. The project’s carbon footprint was also lowered, as the suspension of M&E services required no hot works permits, fire watchers, or power tools like handheld angle grinders.

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Tags: Building Services

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