Two Suffolk companies have joined forces to form a new contracting business.

The combined operation, now operating at TBF Contracting, brings together OBO Scaffolding and Traffic Management Solutions (TMS), both based in Ipswich.

OBO and TMS already work closely together within the Needham Market-based BTS Group, the UK’s largest independent firm of utility tree surgeons.

The merger and formation of a new company is intended to increase the two firms’ operational efficiency and their ability to serve their private and public sector clients.

Hal McCallum, managing director of both TBF Contracting and the BTS Group, said: “Creating TBF gives us flexibility to respond to our customer’s needs and the best opportunity to respond to a rapidly increasing demand for our services across the UK.

“With a commitment to causing zero harm, bts Group is a leader in the development of safety standards in arboriculture. “We will take the same ‘no-compromise’ approach to safety in the potentially high-risk areas of traffic management and scaffolding.”

With new, larger offices and improved facilities at sites on the Boss Hall Industrial Estate in Ipswich and the Lion Barn Industrial Estate in Needham Market, the companies will work in association with BTS Group and will continue to provide the same range of services under the TBF new name.

OBO, a leading provider of scaffolding within the East of England, was founded in 1976. TMS has been a leading UK specialist of traffic management since 2001. OBO joined the BTS Group in 2013, and TMS in 2014.