Tony Henderson, director at Koru, front, with staff at Koru
GATESHEAD builder Koru Property Services has completed work on a building which will house one of the region’s fastest- growing medical firms.
Koru fended off strong competition to land a £140,000 renovation contract from South-Shields-based medical diagnostic company Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings (IDS), which saw it transform its warehouse into additional office and manufacturing space.
Part of the ground floor of the building has been stripped and in its place are two housing marketing and accounting offices; meeting rooms and a segregation screen for future production activities at the site.
IDS, which employs around 100 staff, secured the lease for the 20,373sq ft unit last year, which is near its current headquarters on Boldon Business Park.
The firm is growing quickly after seeing continued strong demand for its diagnostic test for vitamin D and other bone marrow-related disorders, including osteoporosis.
It secured the site last year after announcing strong results for the year ending March 31, 2010, which showed annual sales had jumped by 49% to £37.1m, with profits rising by 114% to £314.9m.
Barry Hextall, deputy finance director at IDS, said: “Now is the perfect time to upgrade our facilities and ensure that we’re maximising our space so we can work to our full potential.
“We chose to work with Koru as we were very impressed they could oversee the project from start to finish. Koru were able to offer a multi-disciplinary team and professional project management.
“They were also good at understanding our requirements and making suggestions for improvement which we especially valued.”
The contract comes at a time of growth at Koru, which is looking to add up to £6m to its turnover and create jobs after clearing its debts and investing in a new repairs and maintenance division.
In 2005, the firm won a £100,000 investment from Newcastle-based NEL Fund Managers and an extra £250,000 in late 2006 which helped the business grow from employing five staff to 50. Koru has cleared its debts, the venture capitalists have withdrawn and its bosses say it is ready to grow, despite the tough construction market.
Tony Henderson, director at Koru, said: “We’re very lucky to have been given the opportunity to work on this fantastic project with IDS with whom we have developed a fantastic relationship. We had around 20 members of the team working on this project and restoration is now complete.”