Brims sets sales target of £16m

Aug 29 2008 by Chris Knox, The Journal

FLEDGLING builder Brims Construction believes it can hit its impressive second- year sales target of £16m after pitching for a number of new contracts.

The Sunderland firm hopes to land work to construct a £2.5m community centre in Middlesbrough as well as £1.5m garden centre in Hetton-le-Hole, County Durham.

The tenders follow a number of recent contract wins for the firm, including the £1m conversion of an unused building in Belmont, Durham, into a conference centre for Emmanuel Church.

It is also working on the design and construction of a new business village at Quay West, Sunderland, which will see it build 48 individual offices overlooking the River Wear by next year.

Although higher materials costs and increased caution among contractors has led to the firm reducing its sales target by £2m for 2008, it still believes it can hit £16m and grow its 15-strong workforce by the end of the year.

Director Richard Wood said: “We are hopeful of winning the new work to help maintain our growth.

“We have established a strong reputation in a short space of time and are now known as a firm that is confident undergoing large-scale projects.

“I’m not saying that we haven’t felt cost pressures due to rising materials prices, or that contractors haven’t been more cautious in undergoing new developments, it’s just that we work in a number of different fields and have secured enough work to keep us protected from the slowdown in the construction sector.” The firm attributes its impressive growth to the experience of its founding members, which includes three ex-directors of the much larger Gateshead-based construction company Tolent.

Ian Clift and brothers Jason and Richard Wood set up the company in November 2006 after leaving Tolent, and took the name of the new company from a Wallsend contractor which ceased to trade in 1993.

With a new era to look forward to, Brims was an active part of the North East’s construction landscape since the turn of the 20th Century, and was responsible for a number of iconic buildings in the region, including the Castle Leazes student halls of residence behind Leazes Park and the Co-operative Warehouse building on the Quayside, which is now home to the Malmaison Hotel.

Wood said: “We still believe that there’s a lot of work to be had in the North East. We have strong relationships with a number of North East contractors, including Hellens and Adderstone Group, and believe we are in a good position compared to others.”