Within weeks of announcing a threefold increase in its 2014 turnover a North-East construction company has landed three new contracts in less than a month.
The senior management team at Howard Russell — Joe Prouse, Barry Wilkinson, David Varty, Craig Muldoon and Ian Goss.
The £2m worth of commercial projects — for Bon Coeur Fine Wines, ITV and Gestamp Tallent Automotive — have also triggered a second round of recruitment for Cramlington-based Howard Russell Construction, which specialises in design-to-build schemes. Following last year’s recruitment of five staff to cope with the extra workload, it has now added another three people to its workforce.
The new recruits will help deliver Howard Russell’s latest contracts which include the conversion of a former agricultural building in Masham, North Yorkshire, for wine merchants, Bon Coeur. Covering 5,400 sq ft over two floors, the project will create a bespoke fine wines establishment encompassing a sales and tasting area, offices and boardroom, a function room and a large wine storage facility. There will also be an attached warehouse.
Work is also continuing on the rolling redevelopment of Gestamp Tallent’s car plant at Newton Aycliffe, County Durham. The second phase involves the demolition of redundant offices and an amenity area and the addition of 23,000 sq ft to the existing factory where Gestamp produces car parts for Volvo, Ford, Jaguar, Land Rover, Nissan, Honda and BMW.
Howard Russell was also the main contractor on the construction of a new state-of-the-art £8m manufacturing facility at Newton Aycliffe for Gestamp, known as Plant Five, which won the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors’ 2013 North-East Renaissance Award for best commercial development.
The third contract, to be started this summer, will involve the refurbishment and fit-out of ITV’s offices on the banks of the River Tyne at Gateshead.
“During the past year we have seen an increase in both the quantity and quality of new enquiries and instructions as the construction sector continues to gather momentum across the region,” commented Howard Russell’s commercial director, Ian Goss. “And recent research suggests that confidence within the industry is continuing to build. We are therefore poised for further growth as 2015 progresses.”
His company’s latest round of orders follows Howard Russell’s completion of £9m worth of projects during March alone. They include an extension to healthcare product maker Akzo Nobel’s industrial unit at Felling, Gateshead, and an office fit-out and extension for German-owned Maquet at Boldon Business Park.
It also completed the £3m refurbishment of Mash Purveyors newly acquired 53,000 sq ft warehouse at the prestigious Park Royal Business Estate in north west London. Mash Purveyors are distributors of quality fruit and vegetables to some of London’s finest hotels and restaurants and the project was the construction firm’s first contract in the capital.
Previous Post
Kames and Boultbee in quick-fire Manchester Office deals
