Firm sets strong foundations for growth with £1.6m funding package

A Northamptonshire-based supplier and manager of earth materials for construction and landscaping is expanding its services.

Storefield Group, headquartered in Kettering, has bought its first quarry, the 50-acre Earls Barton Spinney Quarry outside Northampton and has invested in a new wash plant, after landing a £1.6m funding package from Lloyds Bank.

The business provides aggregates and also recycles materials recovered from live building projects so that they can be reused, avoiding over-use of quarries. Recycling in this way means the business saves 300,000 tonnes of useable materials from going to landfill.

The new ‘wash plant’ at Earls Barton Spinney excavates, grades and separates aggregates from the quarry depending on type and size, before washing them to ensure they’re suitable for construction purposes. The water used in the process is filtered into an on-site lagoon and is re-filtered into the plant to optimise water usage.

The majority of Storefield’s customers are small to mid-sized homebuilders, with the business saying it supports the construction of 3,000 homes each year. This is alongside working on projects for infrastructure and utilities companies and supplying materials for small businesses, including renovators and landscapers.

Storefield has previously worked on projects including London’s Olympic Park, as well as major rail infrastructure projects, with the aggregates coming from excavated materials supplied to local businesses.

The investment comes amid a period of expansion for the group, which has grown its vehicle fleet by 10% and upgraded to bigger lorries to reduce vehicle trips. In the last 12 months, the business has grown from two main operating sites to four, with planning permission secured for a new former steelworks site to be regenerated into a recycling facility, commencing development next year.

The group aims to hit £20m in turnover by the end of 2024, after recording a turnover of £12m last year.

Emily Wright, project manager at Storefield Group, said: “Earls Barton Spinney is our first ever quarry and represents a huge milestone in Storefield’s journey. It means that we now have an end-to-end offering, digging up the materials, suppling them to our customers, and also clearing excavated waste from their projects to be recycled and re-used for new projects. And the new wash plant means that we’re doing this far more efficiently and sustainably.

“We know how important recycling and sustainability is becoming to our customers, who are mostly small businesses just starting to make a change. Being able to manage the waste from their projects and ensure it’s put back to use, rather than into landfill, gives them the foundations on which they can go on to make an even bigger impact for the environment.”

Stephen Woolridge, relationship director at Lloyds Bank, said: “Regeneration and infrastructure projects, as well as homebuilding, carry significant weight in driving economic recovery and we’re proud to back a local business helping support that.

“Storefield is a good example of a business that’s spotted a gap in the market and is moving to meet a growth in demand. This is exactly where we’re able to by other businesses’ side, offering the financial solutions that will allow firms to capitalise on new opportunities and drive growth.”