Facilities firm gearing up for growth in South West

A fast growing facilities management firms is gearing up to unlock further growth in the South West with new appointments following a bumper year in the region.

Diamond Facilities Support, which has an annual turnover of £15m, has recruited five field-based engineers in the South West in the past year – and is planning to recruit a further five more this year – to meet rising demand from hospitality, retail, medical and logistic businesses with multiple sites across the area – ranging from Land’s End to Bristol.

Last year marked the third consecutive year of growth in the South West as the number of jobs the firm was called out to increased by around 15 per cent year-on-year – which is being driven by Diamond’s multi-skilled engineers in the region providing an alternative to the sub-contract model many of Diamond’s competitors use, according to the firm’s chief executive Adam Atkins.

He said: “Businesses in the South West using national facilities management companies have traditionally had to rely on engineers from different third-party companies for emergency responses and scheduled maintenance, which only breeds unreliability and inconsistency, and our ability to tear up this rule book by offering a complete in-house offering is helping to drive our growth in the region.

“Historically FM firms that cover the South West have struggled to recruit enough suitable, multi-skilled candidates, which has contributed to this long running problem, however, our company’s nationwide growth has been built on recruiting, training and developing our own engineers – which is what we are now doing in this region.

“We had a great year last year by recruiting an additional five of our own engineers who are now actively operating as part of an eight-person team throughout the South West, from Land’s End right through to Bristol – and we are now on the search for even more this year.

“The majority of our client demand in the South West stems from emergency call-outs, compliance and project works across plumbing, gas, roofing, air conditioning and building fabric – and to be able to provide this variety of skillsets all under one roof is really helping to set us apart.

“We have built up strong working relationships with some big names in the area, including Youngs Breweries, Alliance Medical and HFT to name a few, all of which are crucial in helping us to drive further growth via referrals.”