Sewell Group acquires Huddersfield firm

Sewell Group, which has several divisions including construction and facilities management, has purchased Illingworth and Gregory (I&G) of Huddersfield.

I & G is a long established family-owned business which specialises in maintenance and refurbishments, primarily in health and education, across West Yorkshire.

Sewell Group, which has offices in Hull and Leeds, made the investment in I&G and they will become sister companies to capitalise on opportunities across the wider Yorkshire region.

Paul Sewell, managing director of Sewell Group, said: “People do business with people, and the team at I&G are the type of people we want to work with.

“They share our values and it was very easy to bring them into the Sewell family. They put the customer first, create a nice buzz around things they get involved with and they secure repeat business, which is also the way we work.

“With our mutual regional aspirations and growth in West and North Yorkshire, this came up in Huddersfield. That’s a great fit, but the best fit of all is the people.”

“This is a great partnership between two like-minded, family businesses, which helps reinforce our strategy to grow across the wider Yorkshire region.”

Sewell has already started working with I&G, with Sewell construction management trainee Cameron Hodgson moving across from the business’ West Yorkshire team to work at I&G in the run-up to Christmas.

I&G’s managing director Jez Illingworth and construction director Dean Simpson will remain with the business.

Illingwrth said: “It’s business as usual as far as I&G’s team, customers and supply chain are concerned. We are very excited about becoming part of the Sewell Group family and by the mutual opportunities which lie ahead.”

Sewell Construction has recently refurbished the Grade Two listed Hull New Theatre and created the new £10m Ron Dearing University Technology College (UTC), transforming the Kingston Square area of Hull city centre.

Construction of the new £9m Jean Bishop Integrated Care Centre is also well underway on the site of the former David Lister School in East Hull.

Work in West and North Yorkshire includes an extension and refurbishment of a hub and library in the heart of York and the recent completion of an extension and refurbishment at Athelstan Community Primary School in Sherburn in Elmet.

I&G has completed work on a wide range of projects in the health sector, including reconfiguration of the existing accident & emergency department at St James’s University Hospital in Leeds and redevelopment of a listed building at Leeds General Infirmary to form a state-of-the-art Hyperpolarisation MRI scanner department.

In education, I&G has recently completed in excess of £3m worth of refurbishment projects across the University of Leeds estate.