Paragon targets £100m turnover with Birmingham launch
COMMERCIAL interiors specialist Paragon has opened a Birmingham office as it sets its sights on a £100m turnover target.
The new office, based at Colmore Row, already houses a team of four senior Paragon employees, a figure which is expected to double within the next six months
The creation of jobs is not limited to the new Birmingham office, a further 12 new employees have started in November alone, driven by Paragon’s consistent growth in its core office fit-out market but also a significant growth in its retail and educational divisions.
That growth is forecast to continue at a rate of 25% a year, with Nottingham-based Paragon on track for £70m turnover in 2017 and to exceed its ‘2020 vision’ of £100m turnover by 2020, a year ahead of schedule.
Paragon CEO Alan Hardy said: “There are numerous factors at play here but has been a consistent recovery since 2008. Brexit of course had a major impact with regards uncertainty and that halted or even scrapped major investment decisions. That initially hit us and the industry hard, especially with regards our international clients but we’ve turned the corner now.
“Confidence has picked up and so in turn have sales. Procurement of projects is now focused on generating value, rather than cost reduction and when that is at the heart of your offering, as it is with us, you can make a major impact.
“We’ve always worked in Birmingham and have a string of very impressive projects in the city but there is still a lot of untapped potential for us. There is a lot of Grade A office space available that needs to be refurbished and by having boots on the ground we can be at the heart of that opportunity.”
He added: “Even as we build our Birmingham presence, we are adding the finishing touches to our extension at our Nottingham HQ. The primary purpose of the extension is to act as a hub for our customers. That focus and a drive to be ‘best in class’ is what makes the difference. It is what has been driving our growth over the last five years and will do so over the next five too as we start to ramp up our activity across all of our sectors.”
