Olympic win comes as a ‘godsend’ for company

Mar 22 2010 by Peter McCusker, The Journal

THE capture of a £9m Olympic contract by Dane Architectural Systems will secure the jobs of its 150 staff and help alleviate the effects of downturn in the private sector construction industry.

Based in Hamsterley, near Ebchester, Dane has installed the aluminium frames and glass “curtain wall” fronts for some major projects including the Sage HQ, Newcastle Library, and London’s Chelsea Bridge development.

Chief executive Gary Hall, who owns the majority of the company having taken over from his father and co-founder George Hall, described the Olympic contract win as a “godsend”.

“We had a good 2008 on the back of the boom in commercial office building but the banking crisis in late 2008 put an end to that, with the build, build, build mentally of the previous few years stood on its head.

“In 2009 our performance was supported by a switch to public sector contracts and this will continue this year with the Olympic contract and the national schools’ building programmes.”

Following a nationwide bidding process Dane secured £9m of work to provide 5,000 aluminium window and door units for 21 blocks of flats in the athletes’ village in Stratford, east London.

The dramatic decline in commercial office building activity is starkly illustrated in Dane’s figures with revenues falling from £30m in 2008 to £20m last year. Dane expects similar annual revenues in 2010.