Constructor with £50m turnover switches banks

£50m turnover company Bardsley Construction has changed its banker for the first time since it was founded more than half a century ago with the appointment of Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking.

The Greater Manchester-based business with a Yorkshire office in Leeds became a customer of Santander with the provision of corporate funding and a comprehensive refinancing package.

Santander is the sole funder of Bardsley with the provision of an overdraft, growth capital loan, clearing services and corporate credit cards.
Bardsley made the decision to switch to new corporate bankers after being a customer of Royal Bank of Scotland since being founded by the late Roland Bardsley in 1964.

Headquartered in Tameside, Bardsley is a £50m-turnover business with a diverse workload including the construction, conversion and refurbishment of homes, educational, sporting and leisure facilities, specialist medical centres and industrial and retail premises.

The firm’s clients include local authorities, housing associations, NHS trusts, health authorities, educational bodies and the private sector.

Some 70% of the workload undertaken by almost 200 staff is secured from repeat clients with Bardsley being appointed to several framework agreements with housing associations and education providers.

Ian Henry, relationship director, Large Corporate Group, Santander Corporate & Commercial Banking, said: “Santander has recently provided banking services to Bardsley Construction Ltd, a family-owned contracting business based in Manchester. The group is a major employer in Tameside and we are delighted to be able to support a business with such strong links to the local community.”

Roly Bardsley, chairman of Bardsley Construction and son of company founder Roland, said: “To end a long and mutually beneficial relationship with RBS that started with the founding of Bardsley by my father was obviously a major decision for myself and the board of directors to make but we are now benefiting from Santander providing us with funding and a full clearing package to refinance and re-bank the business from RBS.

“As we continue to benefit from a workload rising in line with the burgeoning economic revival we start what we hope will be an equally lengthy relationship with Santander.”