Partnership helps to deliver £30m worth of projects

A partnership between specialist construction companies is taking shape and will be key to the fastest growing business in the food sector over coming years.

The relationship between coldstore construction experts ISD Solutions and food industry specialists DDK Projects has already been instrumental in delivering projects in excess of £30m since April 2021.

DDK Projects is led by Tim Dixon, Alan Donaldson and David Lynch, who collectively have more than 80 years’ experience working in the food manufacturing industry.

ISD Solutions, the major part of Gloucester-based composite panel specialists The P&M Group, is one of several food industry construction specialists who will be collaborating with DDK in future.

Supported by this collective of quality subcontractors, DDK will accelerate their achievements as the fastest growing food sector construction company in the UK over the next three years.

A key part of the growth strategy is pre-qualification of the supply chain and a partnership of approved subcontractors, including ISD Solutions.

Having already delivered £2m of contracts over the past year, ISD will be instrumental in reaching those targets and expects to receive significant amounts of project work going forward.

Fred Weaver, national sales manager at ISD Solutions, said: “Although there are challenges within the construction industry we believe that the culture in the niche food and beverage sector is changing, away from contracts being awarded purely on price and towards a focus on longevity and total cost of facility ownership.

“That’s a model which suits specialist companies with experienced people, who focus on quality of service and delivery as their long-term sustainable business strategy.

“Indeed if you look at the construction business as a whole, large companies are often taking on many mega-shed projects in a bid to turn a profit. However specialist food facilities are intricate, time-consuming and require experience to deliver. So, for the end user it becomes less risky to use a smaller company which is focusing on excellence rather than volume.

“As a specialist subcontractor we will of course continue to work with companies across the business spectrum, but we are fully supportive of the concept that Tim and his team are proposing and we’re excited to see its potential develop.”

ISD Solutions is part of Gloucester-based The P & M Group, which includes PLG Insulations, a division in Australia and Midlands-based installations specialists S Tysoe Installations. Together the companies employ more than 190 staff, with a combined turnover of around £70m.

As part of the DDK network, ISD Solutions will join other specialists in services including mechanical, electrical, refrigeration, architectural and commercial in establishing a new business model that operates virtually, consequently minimising overheads.

“The relationship between DDK and ISD is the spark behind this collective,” said Mr Dixon. “We’ve known each other for many years and there’s a great deal of mutual respect there, for the quality of our work and for the vision of how the construction industry can work better.

“We believe that by bringing the best people together we can talk openly about business development and how we should approach jobs collectively.

“We can combine experience with competitiveness due to low company overheads – it’s a powerful combination which enables us to adhere to the best standards in creating world-class facilities.”