End of era as builder’s merchant leaves city site

May 22 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

JT Dove managing director Steve Robinson said: “Whilst this site is part of JT Dove’s history and heritage it was no longer filling the right purpose to enable us to be the competitive and vibrant business we wish to be going forward.

“We had two choices, invest in this site, which is getting harder to access in terms of vehicle access and parking, or to surrender our leasehold interest to a responsible developer who will make sure that whilst the culture is preserved, it will be sensitively developed to improve our city.

“Through the surrender of our lease we have been able to build three purpose-built retail outlets, catering for builders, plumbers and landscapers in easy to access areas.”

Mr Robinson said that the company remained in good health despite the problems facing the construction sector and believes it is on track to achieve a £2m increase in its annual sales to £34m. “It’s fair to say that it probably wasn’t the best time to go through the changes we have during a recession, but I am confident that we will soon reap the rewards as our staff begin to settle in to their new offices,” he said.

“There are some green shoots starting to emerge in the housing market and that does fill us with confidence, and we shall be looking to establish more sites in the region to benefit from the upturn when it happens.”