º£½ÇÊÓÆµ

Oops.

Our website is temporarily unavailable in your location.

We are working hard to get it back online.

PRIVACY
Enterprise

Construction firm hit by Covid-19 and Brexit anticipating best year in a decade

Sandycroft Construction believes this year will be one of the best it has had since before 2008

Pictured from left is Rob Wynne, Richard Whalley, dean Giblin, Karl GreatRex and Alex Hailstones.

A construction company which has decades of experience in the medical sector is gearing up for a record year.

Sandycroft Construction, which is based in Etruria, Stoke-on-Trent, had a ‘tough’ 2020 after seeing its turnover fall by 15 per cent as a result of the global coronavirus crisis and Brexit.

And while the business was able to maintain its profitability, a number of projects were cancelled and delayed which made it difficult for bosses to ‘forward-plan.’

But now the firm has launched a recruitment drive in anticipation of ‘one of the best year’s’ it has had for more than a decade.

Director Richard Whalley – who took over the business with Karl GreatRex in 2008 – said: “Lots of projects we were working on this time last year were delayed because of the pandemic and we had to furlough our staff for about two months.

“At the same time, Brexit has had impact and we’ve seen some massive cost increases, particularly on timber, steel and insulation. We’re not just talking small increases either, in some cases they’ve jumped from five per cent to 15 per cent. So last year was a really tough year for us.”

Richard added: “We managed to pick up a few smaller projects last summer and have now started on site at some of the projects which were delayed last year, and I’m pleased to say that our order book is now 80 per cent full.

“The construction industry is really buoyant at the moment and we expect that will continue; the next three or four years will be bumper years’ for the industry.