What does success mean? To one Newport businessman it is a negative as much as a positive. DAN BARNES spoke to Cintec boss Peter James

MANAGING director of Cintec - which is based in Gold Tops, Newport - Peter James believes that success is “to live the dream and be miserable in comfort and have a sense of achievement.”

“From my early days in construction, some of which was as deputy building superintendent with Cardiff City Engineer Department dealing with the council’s entire building stock, it was barely conceivable that this experience would take me to work in the edge of the Sahara,” he said.

Mr James has gone on to oversee the repair of high rise structures across the world.

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While he may not view this in the same way as the traditional sense of the word ‘success’, it would seem that many definitions can exist.

“I have lived the dream and am not miserable,” he said. “I do have a high sense of achievement.”

This is understandable when you take into account just some of the things Mr James has managed to accomplish during his life.

Before he turned his hand to saving some of the most well-known structures on the planet, Mr James served in the Royal Naval Reserves as an ordinary seaman, retiring as a Lieutenant Commander 17 years later with a Reserve decoration.

The spark for travel may have been ignited during this time as during his service he saw many assignments – including across various parts of the Europe and the Atlantic.

It wasn’t just the sea which has formed part of Mr James’ life however, as he is also at home in the air – earning a pilot’s licence to fly a helicopter.

“Whilst not used for my Naval Reserve duties I enjoyed flying helicopters,” he said.

The work he is most famous for came in 1984, when he founded the firm Cintec International.

Having experienced work on heavy civil engineering and new-build projects after qualifying from the now University of South Wales in Newport, Mr James decided to specialise in the restoration and maintenance of structures.

Since it as founded, Cintec International Ltd, which specialises in retrofitted patented anchoring and reinforcing systems, has grown internationally and expanded the product range considerably, with a branch office in India and stand-alone companies in Australia, America and Canada, and agents throughout the world.

Cintec has worked on many of the world's most iconic heritage buildings, including Buckingham Palace and the White House complex.

However, as famous as those projects may be, real renown came with a project on something a little older.

“Some 24 years ago, I first started working on the historic buildings and temples of Egypt and most recently one of the world’s oldest pyramids, The Step Pyramid, for which I have won an international award,” said Mr James. “In addition, I was asked if I could secure the outer casing of the Bent Pyramid.

“This pyramid was the only pyramid with large amounts of the outer casing missing.

"In order to repair the defect it was of course vital to understand how it failed.

"Much to the amazement of the authorities, I explained that the failure was due to further expansion of the outer casing, as there weren’t any provisions for expansion joints used in its construction the outer casing fell off.”

Cintec’s work utilises their patented Archtec anchoring system, which involves injecting a specialised grout into an anchor surrounded by a fabric sock, which has already been placed in an oversized drilled hole.

“The system’s ingenuity lies in its versatility,” said Mr James.

“Drawing on decades of experience and testing, our designers can customize it to any specification.”

Mr James’ work on some of the oldest structures in the world inspired him to write a book – Saving the Pyramids.

“Many of the evolved theories of how the Pyramids were built have been made by persons who either are not trained in construction or do not have first-hand experience work on these monuments,” he said.

“This prompted me to write a book on how the pyramids were built, from an engineering perspective.

“I am proud that it has been very well received by academics/archaeologists worldwide.”

Mr James has since been named as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Builders and has seen his company’s unique efforts rewarded with the Queen’s Award for Innovation.

“It was a great honour to get this award for our Archtec system,” he said.

“We are the world’s market leaders in this technology."