The Ward Hadaway North East Fastest 50 Awards celebrate the companies that have achieved remarkable growth, showcasing their entrepreneurial spirit and significant contribution to the region鈥檚 economy.
This year, the spotlight shone brightly on Sunderland-headquartered , which not only clinched the overall winner award but was also recognised as the fastest-growing medium-sized business.
We spoke to RE:GEN鈥檚 CEO Lee Francis as well as Ward Hadaway鈥檚 Richard Butts to learn more about the organisation鈥檚 path to success...
Blueprint for continued growth
鈥淚t鈥檚 always about your people - whether it鈥檚 those you work with or work for - and how you cultivate your relationship with them and build a bond that鈥檚 mutually beneficial,鈥 says Lee Francis, CEO of RE:GEN Group, which has established itself as one of the region鈥檚 leading social housing partners, providing innovative and sustainable housing solutions across the North East.
鈥淥ur aim is to become an invested partner for clients that genuinely cares about those we work with, challenging the norm through changing how things are done if they鈥檙e not working for the client.
鈥淎 fundamental element of delivering this is to create a culture that people want to be a part of. And that鈥檚 exactly what we鈥檝e done which has become a blueprint for our continued growth.鈥
A highly skilled, talented workforce
And growth is something RE:GEN knows a thing or two about.
In 2021 the company, led by a six-strong leadership team at the time, including Lee, now COO Brinsley Sheridan, Managing Director of RE:GEN North East Jonathan Horner and Group Commercial Director Michael Hodgkiss, quickly established strong partnerships with the region鈥檚 key social housing associations including Gentoo Group, Karbon Homes, Thirteen, believe housing and Bernicia.
By the end of the year, its turnover was 拢5 million, increasing to 拢40 million in 2022.
鈥淎 highly skilled, talented workforce is essential to our sustainable growth,鈥 says Lee. 鈥淒eveloping our people, and retaining them, is extremely important to us.
鈥淭his is why we have our own training provision and the RE:GEN Academy. It means we can nurture our own talent and help our supply chain partners with skilled professionals too - we aim to provide as many job opportunities as we can to residents of our clients too.鈥
Growing their own talent
Lee and the team realised the importance of growing their own talent from within the business.
Working in collaboration with a regional training provider, a six-week programme was delivered, giving 10 individuals experience in a wide range of construction disciplines which would result in two people being offered an apprenticeship at the end.
鈥淲e ended up taking on six apprentices because we were blown away by the passion they showed,鈥 says Lee.
鈥淔rom there, we decided to invest in our own skills provision as well as establishing our RE:GEN Academy to create a high-quality, skilled workforce through a structured bespoke pathway for apprentices.
鈥淎nd it鈥檚 not just about nurturing breakthrough talent - we鈥檙e focused on developing our people at every level. For example, we鈥檝e recently invested 拢250k into middle and senior leadership development programmes to help support employees, as well as business growth.鈥
Providing opportunities
RE:GEN is also focused on providing opportunities to all types of people regardless of their age, background or career history.
Lee explains: 鈥淲e鈥檝e got a 30-year-old former bus driver employee who completed our bootcamp programme and became an apprentice site manager. He took a pay cut to join us but now earns 40% more than he did and has a long and lucrative career ahead of him.
鈥淭alent isn鈥檛 a tick box exercise that exists within a specific cohort of people - it comes in many forms.鈥
The organisation鈥檚 continued commitment to people was highlighted earlier this year when construction company Tolent went into administration. RE:GEN created new roles for 24 employees who were able to secure jobs following redundancy.
Significant impact
Richard Butts, a partner at Ward Hadaway, says: 鈥淩E:GEN Group has done incredibly well in a short space of time within a fast-paced industry. The organisation鈥檚 approach to building a business is excellent and it has a great model for talent development, providing opportunities across the board.
鈥淭he company鈥檚 recognition as the fastest-growing business at this year鈥檚 Fastest 50 demonstrates the significant impact they're making in the sector. Huge congratulations to the team.鈥
Based in Doxford Park, Sunderland, the Group is set to exceed the 拢60 million turnover mark by the end of the year and currently has 204 employees. Its headquarters is an 8,942 sq ft modern office space over two floors that鈥檚 in close proximity to its clients.
Lee adds: 鈥淎s a business leader, you must remember it鈥檚 about progress, not perfection. Whatever industry you鈥檙e in if things aren鈥檛 working you need to try a different approach.
鈥淥nly in this way will the business continue to adapt, evolve and, crucially, grow.鈥
Find out more
For further information about Ward Hadaway and the North East Fastest 50 Awards, see
