Restoration firm’s order book defying recession

Jun 12 2009 by Chris Knox, The Journal

A BUILDING and restoration company has exceeded its turnover targets by £1m and is now looking to enter the lucrative market of council framework agreements.

County Durham firm St Astier has defied the recession over recent months and said it is set to post a turnover of £5m later this year, which is up from the £4m figure it has recorded over the last two years.

The firm, which employs 35 staff, also said that its order book was worth around £3m for the rest of its financial year, which is up from the £2m it was worth this time last year. The company, which was set up by husband and wife team Carol and Ranson Og in 2003 from their home in Sunderland, is helped by the fact that it also specialises in restoration work on listed buildings.

It is currently working on the restoration of 1 Neville Street next to the Central Station in Newcastle which currently houses Buffer Bear Nursery. It also recently helped to convert a mill near Morpeth, Northumberland, where it has reinforced the masonry by installing 36 anchors fitted with threaded rods to allow the fixing of wall plates.

It is also restoring Gateshead visitor centre and recently finished work at the MetroCentre, where it has completed a £215,000 project to repair and replace concrete slabs in the Yellow Mall, which is one of the original sections of the site, built in 1988.

St Astier now operates from an 8,000sq ft office in Seaham and offices in Mosley Street, Newcastle, and a Yorkshire service office in Leeds and said that it was looking to create more jobs.

The firm is now hoping to land a number of long-term council frameworks after proving that it is able to grow during a downturn while others have fallen by the wayside or had to make a number of cuts.

St Astier has four sides to the business – conservation, civil engineering, social housing and structural repairs – and said that it was more confident than most companies in its field due to its diverse portfolio.

Mr Og, who is managing director at the firm said: “We have done a lot better than expected over recent months, especially considering the impact the recession has had on the construction industry.

“Most of our work comes from repeat business and we are now hoping to land our first council framework by the end of the year based on our growing reputation and are confident that we can keep growing and creating jobs.”