Record turnover for housebuilder using new ways of working
A Derby-based construction boss has branded the first half of the year as “epic” after his firm made a start on 168 homes.
Ian Hodgkinson, director at Pride Park-based Hodgkinson Builders, says his firm has trialled a new way of working to speed up the build process.
Hodgkinson, who co-founded the Access Training Construction Academy earlier this year, said: “Hodgkinson Builders is going great guns’at the moment. We have just completed a fantastic first half of the year.
“We have trialled the use of timber frames and liquid screed to speed up the efficiency of the build process at our development in Stoke, and we hope to roll this out over at our site in Ripley.”
The firm has also announced plans to build a new development of 16 homes at Butterley Hill in Ripley.
Consisting of two and three-bed homes, the site will be made up of affordable housing on behalf of the Waterloo Housing Group, and is expected to be completed by March 2020.
Hodgkinson, who says he has seen his turnover increase to record levels in 2019, added: “By using modern methods of building we can work on both the interior and exterior of a property at the same time, and the use of liquid screed means that several plots can be done in one day, which is phenomenal. We are building homes so fast that we are running out of land.
“The success of the business is fully down to the innovative ideas of our team, combined with the passion of the original directors and the senior staff recruited form major house builders.
“We are in a fantastic position with the forward order book, and with our current developments in Stoke, Ilkeston, Ashbourne, Eastwood, and Worksop. Most construction firms are being affected by Brexit from a resources and staffing point of view. Many are struggling with the lack of tradespeople coming from Europe, Hodgkinson Builders are certainly not.”
“Our academy is providing the much-needed skilled workforce that we require, and from our 100-strong bricklaying workforce, 22 of those are a direct result of our training and academy, which is a testament to its success.”
