Family builders enter JV with student housing developer

A family run building company has entered a JV with a property development business.

Chris Shaw, 37, founder and CEO of EveryTrade, a Manchester company with 60 staff and a fleet of 35 vans, has struck a partnership deal with Emperor Holdings after agreeing terms with managing director Alex Riddick.

Riddick, 29, began growing a portfolio in the student property market in 2016 after identifying opportunities within the HMO sector in Liverpool.

Shaw, who changed careers in 2008 swapping media for construction, said: “Emperor Holdings produce award-winning schemes and occupy an enviable position in the student market.

“Our partnership agreement instantly enables us to grow the property development arm and will improve us further as a construction company.

“Alex’s skills especially in the automation process of growing a property business were a major factor in striking up this partnership.”

Shaw continued: “We’ve invested time and effort on social platforms about growing a business model using retained tradesmen, investing in office infrastructure and management, our customer service and support teams and our ‘supermarket of trades’ that includes our own architectural technicians.

“We’ve put a lot of detail into the business strategy right down to every member of the team wearing uniform…it’s all about representing the professional face of the building industry.”

Having already invested a substantial six figure sum into EveryTrade over the past decade, Shaw plans to add a further 50 employees to the business over the next two years bringing the team to a around 110 in 2023.

For Riddick, the 50-50 partnership is a reflection of the strategy he implemented for Emperor Holdings after completing his second property deal.

He said: “EveryTrade’s infrastructure was an attractive prospect enabling us to further evolve our property development business, initially over a five year plan through their building capacity.”