Notts manufacturer set to land £8m deals
Nottinghamshire’s A1 Flue Systems says it is expecting to secure more than £8m worth of new contracts “within the next couple of months”.
The company – which employs nearly 150 people at its factory in Ollerton near Newark – says it will lands half a dozen deals, including work for a new hospital, some large-scale housing developments within the M25 and the next phase of work on an iconic London landmark.
Director TJ Duncan-Moir said that the company – which designs, manufactures, installs and maintains industrial chimney and exhaust systems – will be able to take the new contracts in its stride.
“We are delighted that so many new contracts will be commencing in such a short space of time – especially when you consider all the repercussions of what happened in the construction industry following the recent liquidation of Carillion,” said TJ. “However, we are a robust business and have strong relationships with the main contractors we will be working with.
“As the industry experts in flue systems, we often find ourselves talking to contractors years before a building is out of the ground, and it’s no understatement to say that we’re currently in discussions for most, if not all, of the big projects in the pipeline in London.
“In the case of Battersea Power Station, we’d been talking to them for more than seven years before they were at a point where they could commission the first stage of development. And this has put us in pole position for the next stage of the redevelopment of the site.”
Fellow Director John Hamnett said that the company is entering these new contracts with its eyes wide open – especially because of the changing landscape within the construction industry.
Last month, the company gave its backing to new legislation currently going through Parliament that aims to give SMEs more protection in areas such as retentions – where large contractors withhold up to 5% of payment until the job has been completed to their satisfaction.
“It’s understandable, given what happened with Carillion, that suppliers and subbies to main contractors are very wary going forward. But given the fact that we have contracts with more than 20 of the UK’s largest construction firms, we try to spread our exposure by not having too many eggs in one basket,” said Hamnett.
“As we sign each new contract, we are very mindful that this is the culmination of a lot of hard work by a great team of people in the different departments at A1 Flues, who work seamlessly together to deliver some fantastic projects.”