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| 25.09.07 BUILDING FIRM LANDS £35M NEW ORDERS BUILDING on its already firm foundationscounty-based Britannia Construction has announced new contracts worth £35 million, a figure it says could grow by a further £20m. It is exciting times for the Staverton-based business which now employs 160 staff and is looking to take on more, mainly on the management and technical side. This latest batch of contracts sees the company continue its 20-year relationship with Tesco, with a £6.3m deal to Maesteg, Wales, but also includes a £6.6m redevelopment of Fareham shopping centre for Dominion Corporate Trustees, a £6.6m business parts in Hertfordshire and a series of smaller retail contracts, including work in Hereford for the BBC Pensions Trust valued at £2.8m. Britannia will also be carrying out work in Bristol, refurbishing a retail unit in The Horsefair for Bristol Alliance Limited, in Wales for Cwmbran Town Centre and for Prudential Property Investment Managers. Mike Bishop managing director of Britannia Construction, one of the specialist contracting arms of Renew, said the deals also took the company outside its normal geographical target area. "We have been growing steadily over the last 10 years. To some extent this is the culmination of a lot of hard work by a lot of people. It is partly a result of existing relationships with clients such as Tesco but also as other clients get to understand what we can do we get new opportunities," said Mr Bishop He added that the business, which also built the Beechwood Shopping Centre in Cheltenham, was capable of handling contracts up to £20m. "It is exciting. It is going to take us into a different league in terms of our business, but it has not happened overnight. It has been hard work." And £35m worth of new contracts may not be the final total either. "It is a tremendous start to our financial year, which runs from October. We are constantly talking to clients about other work and there is some which we are unable to disclose. "There is potentially another £20m worth of work which we hope to secure." Some of the flying start to this financial year, said Mr Bishop, wa.s a result of "slippage" as work had been delayed on some contracts pushing them into the current year. Office and industrial contracts have helped boost the total figure for contracts for this year. These include a £4.4m deal to work on Stonehouse Park phases two and three, secured for Robert Hitchins Properties Limited. Further projects include the redevelopment of the old Government Buildings at Elmbridge Court in Gloucester at around £2.75m for HSBC Property Fund and Centennial Business Park in Elstree for Business Homes - valued at £6.6m and due to start in early October. It has just started on a third multiplex fit-out contract for Cineworld, a £3m twelve-screen facility at High Wycombe. Work has also begun on a new sixth form accommodation block at Westonbirt School, Gloucestershire, valued at more than Elm. Britannia's Civil Engineering Division has also been busy Contracts include a £2m-plus major |
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