A NORTH East building firm has set up a maintenance division to help it move into new markets and increase its turnover by £5m.
Newcastle-based Whelan Construction has hired Lee Brewster to head up the division after he was made redundant as North East maintenance leader at national builder Rok, following its administration.
The firm, which employs around 60 staff, is now looking to build up its own maintenance team and said that it was hoping to tag maintenance contracts onto some of its current building schemes, which includes the £10m development of student accommodation for Northumbria University, which will see 417 bedrooms built at New Bridge Street in Newcastle.
By diversifying its operations, Whelan now hopes to increase its turnover from £25m to £30m over the next two years.
Brewster said: “This is such a fantastic opportunity, having worked within the North East construction industry for some time.
“Whelan is well known within the industry for quality and excellent customer relations, and there is a tremendously close-knit feel to the team throughout the company that has got me really excited about working here.
“I feel sure I can repay the faith the Whelan team have shown in me by developing a strong maintenance client roster as soon as possible.”
Managing director Tony Whelan said: “I’ve known Lee for some time. He has loyally served some large companies in the region, so when I knew he was interested in working with Whelan I thought he would be the perfect individual to start building this new division which offers an added service capability to our USPs.
“Lee has been handed a broad brief to develop this part of the business in a way he sees best, but that will be underpinned with all the hallmarks of Whelan’s rich tradition and ethos, which is to develop solid long-term relationships through offering great quality and value.”
Whelan recently completed a £200,000 office extension to Salem Tubes’ headquarters in Prudhoe, Gateshead. The £3.5m headquarters building for the heat exchanger and pressure tubes manufacturer was originally built by Whelan and opened in October 2009.
In addition, it has also completed a £100,000 office refurbishment for long-term clients SCA Hygiene, who are housed on the former Procter & Gamble site in Prudhoe.
The firm has also landed a £2m contract to transform an existing building in Walker, Newcastle, into an engineering apprenticeship college as part of a joint venture between Newcastle College and Shepherd Offshore.
The company has welcomed proposals in this week’s Budget to free up public sector land for development and relax planning laws.
Mr Whelan said: “The market was really quiet up until the end of last year, but has since picked back up again. We plan to take advantage of this through the launch of the new division and are hopeful of landing additional contracts over the coming months.
“There were a number of positives to come out of the Budget this year. I would particularly welcome an easier planning process, as this has held up a number of projects in the past.”
