Principal contractor building on boom in commercial work
Inco Contracts has achieved a record-breaking first half in the North West.
The principal contractor, based in Cannock, opened a North West office in 2020, and is celebrating its first instruction at Manchester Airport which has contributed to a first half book in commercial work.
Inco, which specialise in turnkey commercial and industrial refurbishments, has been appointed by Quartz Project Services to complete the external decoration of the World Freight Terminal at the airport.
Valued at £1m, the project will involve replacing skylights, lining gutters, coating roofs and full renovation of external elevations on six units that will be operational throughout.
Up to 20 professionals will be involved on the contract at any one time as Inco looks to complete it in just 24 weeks.
This high profile order comes on the back of some major commercial office refurbishments and takes instruction values past last year’s total of £8.5m.
The focus now is on securing between £13m and £14m in revenue by the end of 2024.
Matthew Penswick, who helped launch the Warrington office in December 2020 alongside Operations Director, Sam Norton, said: “I don’t think any of us could predict the scale of growth we’ve enjoyed when we first decided to set up a presence in the North West.
“We’ve gone from a standing start to one of the most respected contractors in the region, building strategic partnerships with property and management consultants.”
He added: “The team are also growing to meet demand, with a new Associate Director, Contracts Manager, Assistant Contracts Manager, Senior Estimator and Team Administrator all now working out of our Hatton Lane office. Another two senior hires have also just been made from our competitors within the last month.”
The Manchester Airport job tops an ‘instruction heavy’ few months for Inco Contracts, including three industrial refurbishment projects at McBride’s Eurolinks facility in St Helens, worth £2.65m, Europa Way (£1.5m) in Sheffield and Follingsby (£1.5m) in Gateshead.
Success in the commercial market has been a strong feature, with several projects awarded to fit-out Category A and Category B office space at Anchorage in Salford and WellbarCentral/Time Central – just a few minutes from Newcastle United’s St James Park ground.
The latter will involve complete refurbishment of offices for rental, breakout spaces for tenants and a new state-of-the-art business lounge.
Sam Norton said: “Industrial projects were originally our main source of growth, yet this is quickly being caught up by commercial work, which is now being headed up by our new Associate Director Mike Puttick, a real specialist in this field.
“There is still a vast amount of these projects coming online in Manchester, Leeds and the North East, and we want to break into this space, believing the Warrington office gives us the perfect base to do just that.”
He added: “Education schemes, led by expert Billy Sneddon, offer another area of expansion, with specialist school refurbishment projects under way in Warrington.
“The market is highly competitive, but with the strength of our growing relationships and our new approach to client management, we are sure that we will command more market share over the next 12 to 18 months. There is even talk of a potential Scottish presence to meet demand there.”
