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From time to time, we like to look back on some of the projects from RVA’s earlier years, reminding ourselves of the challenges we encountered and the lessons that continue to shape our approach to decommissioning today.

Today, we came across a case study from one of our major industrial decommissioning projects at Stanton-by-Dale in Ilkeston, where RVA was brought in to help Saint-Gobain PAM UK find a safe and commercially viable solution for two mothballed manufacturing plants.

With the former Central Melting Plant and adjacent Hallam Plant having been out of production since 2006, the initial view was that deplanting and demolition could prove prohibitively expensive. RVA was asked to investigate the available options and, through detailed feasibility work, identified an approach that could generate sufficient value from recovered materials to fund the project.

The project is a great example of how taking a different perspective on decommissioning can turn what initially appears to be a significant financial liability into an opportunity — while maintaining the focus on safety, quality and effective project delivery.

Read the full case study below to find out more about how RVA helped make this major decommissioning project possible.

To learn more about RVA’s experience in decommissioning and demolition projects, or discuss your own requirements, we’d be happy to talk.

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Last week, the Safety in Decom Network, Step Change in Safety, and Decom Mission hosted a webinar bringing together professionals from across the decommissioning sector to share experiences, lessons learned, and practical safety insights from major projects.

The objective of these networks is simple but important: to promote the sharing of good practice, learning, and innovation that helps improve safety performance across decommissioning projects.

Steve Andrew, Technical Director of RVA Group and Co-Chair of the Safety in Decom Network, had the pleasure of hosting and facilitating the session.

We were privileged to hear excellent presentations from:
🔹John Kruse (Adura) – Nelson Derrick Removal Project
🔹Alex Hadden (Brown & Mason Group Limited) – The CDM journey from cessation of production through to onshore demolition
🔹Gareth van Heerden and Nigel Wright (Nuclear Restoration Services) – Trawsfynydd Height Reduction Project

The diversity of the case studies, spanning offshore decommissioning, onshore  demolition , and nuclear decommissioning, demonstrated how effective planning, workforce engagement, risk management, collaboration, and learning from experience can help prevent incidents and improve safety outcomes across high-hazard industries.

A common theme throughout the session was that safer outcomes are achieved when organisations share knowledge openly and learn from both successes and challenges.

At RVA Group, drawing on our experience of delivering more than 1,000 decommissioning and demolition projects, we strongly believe that continuous improvement in safety depends on collaboration, knowledge sharing, and the willingness to learn from experience throughout the decommissioning lifecycle.

Thank you to everyone involved in organising the webinar, and to all the presenters and participants who contributed to such an insightful and valuable discussion.

RVA Group has been appointed to share its specialist decommissioning and demolition expertise at the Aging Assets & Decommissioning 2026 conference in Brisbane, Australia, taking place from 19–21 October 2026.

As part of the event, RVA will deliver a presentation examining “Deliberate Collapse and Explosive Demolition: Identifying Potential Failure Modes and How to Mitigate”, exploring the critical considerations required to plan and execute complex demolition activities safely.

The presentation will form part of the conference’s programme focused on planning, executing, and delivering successful decommissioning projects. It will consider key factors including understanding structural behaviour, selecting the appropriate demolition methodology, developing robust risk assessments and method statements, and preparing effective contingency arrangements.

RVA will also facilitate a full-day interactive workshop titled “Expert Perspectives on Decommissioning Best Practice Through the Asset Life-Cycle, from Site Concept Through Operations, Decommissioning and Repurposing.”

The workshop will explore how effective decommissioning strategies can be developed and refinedfrom conceptual design to the end of an asset’s lifecycle, rather than being considered only when an asset reaches the end of its operational life.

Participants will examine critical decisions, planning requirements and stakeholder considerations that influence successful outcomes from initial site concept and operations through to decommissioning, dismantling, demolition, disposal, remediation, and repurposing.

Key areas of discussion will include:

• Determining the appropriate level of decommissioning planning and cost estimation at each stage of an asset’s lifecycle
• Understanding regulatory requirements and the timing of engagement with regulators, communities and other stakeholders
• Developing safe, sustainable, and commercially viable asset valorisation strategies
• Maximising circular economy opportunities and aligning decommissioning with waste management best practice
• Defining the scope of decommissioning, dismantling, demolition and disposal (DDDD)
• Establishing clear project end points, remediation requirements, and rehabilitation objectives
• Identifying the appropriate parties to undertake different phases of a decommissioning programme
• Delivering projects safely, efficiently and responsibly while maintaining environmental, programme and cost objectives

The workshop reflects RVA’s longstanding approach to decommissioning: successful end-of-life asset management starts with effective planning, informed decision-making and risk management well before physical work begins.

With three and a half decades of international experience across complex industrial environments, successfully delivering over 1,000 projects, RVA provides independent engineering, safety and project management expertise across decommissioning, decontamination, dismantling, demolition and site remediation projects. The team has deliveredsuccessfully across the power generation, oil and gas, petrochemical, chemical, pharmaceutical, nuclear and industrial sectors, supporting asset owners with independent technical, safety, environmental and commercial challenges associated with complex end-of-life planning.

RVA is pleased to contribute its experience to this international forum and to support greater knowledge-sharing around safe, sustainable and commercially effective decommissioning.

To book onto the event use the following link: https://www.marcusevans.com/conferences/aging-assets

Find out more about RVA Group’s decommissioning and demolition expertise or discuss your project with our team.

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Across the industrial, energy and manufacturing sectors, we’re seeing a clear shift. Asset owners are increasingly looking beyond demolition as an end-of-life activity and recognising decommissioning as a strategic business decision.

Early planning, independent technical expertise, robust risk management and sustainability are no longer optional—they’re becoming essential for delivering safe, commercially secure and environmentally responsible outcomes.

At RVA Group, we’ve always believed that successful decommissioning starts long before work begins on site. The right strategy, informed by engineering excellence and objective advice, creates value, reduces risk and enables smarter decisions throughout the asset lifecycle.

As industrial assets continue to evolve, organisations that adopt a strategic, engineering-led approach to decommissioning will be best placed to maximise value, minimise risk and support long-term sustainability goals.

RVA Group continues to support clients across the industrial, energy and manufacturing sectors with independent technical expertise, helping them plan and deliver safe, efficient and commercially successful decommissioning projects that create lasting value.

RVA is delighted to share it has successfully passed their latest certification audit for:
• ISO 9001 – Quality Management
• ISO 14001 – Environmental Management
• ISO 45001 – Occupational Health & Safety Management

Even more pleasing, the audit concluded with zero non-conformances, zero observations, and more than 30 commendations across our management systems.

This outstanding result reflects the hard work, professionalism, and commitment of our team, who continually strive for excellence in everything we do. It demonstrates the effectiveness of our management systems and our dedication to quality, safety, sustainability, and continuous improvement, all of which remain central to how we deliver projects and services for our clients.

The RVA Management System has been specifically developed to manage high-hazard industrial decommissioning and demolition projects, providing a robust framework that supports safe, efficient, and quality-driven project delivery in some of the most challenging industrial environments.

A huge thank you to everyone involved in preparing for and supporting the audit. Your commitment continues to demonstrate what excellence looks like in practice and is a credit to the entire RVA team.

We’re proud of this achievement, but we’re even more focused on what it means for our clients—consistent, safe, and high-quality project delivery.