Utilities contract cleans up for S&B
A MAJOR contract with a potential value of up to £25m during the next five years has been won by a Yorkshire civil engineering and construction business.
Ten new jobs are being created to service the contract won by S&B Utilities, based in Scotton, near Knaresborough, after gaining backing from Yorkshire Bank’s Harrogate Financial Solutions Centre (FSC) as part of its Investing for Growth initiative.
In the contract, S&B Utilities, which currently has 40 staff and a £3.8m turnover, will partner Leeds-based civil engineering business Earth Tech Morrison (ETM), in work which forms part of a series of contracts worth a total of £1.3bn designed to guarantee customers secure waste water disposal and high-quality drinking water.
The work being carried out by S&B Utilities, which has a long-term framework contract with Yorkshire Water, and ETM will involve refurbishing up to 60 water pumping stations a year up to March 2015.
The new jobs being created include management and on-site posts for electrical engineers, mechanical fitters, contract managers and a new contracts director.
Keith Swales, managing director of S&B Utilities, said: “This is by far the biggest contract in S&B Utilities’ eight-year history. We have worked for Yorkshire Water for 15 years through this, and our previous, business, carrying out small civil engineering jobs and this contract is the fruition of the many successful projects we have delivered during that time.
“As well as enabling us to create badly-needed jobs in the local economy, this contract is important for supporting the growth of the business during the next five years and securing the jobs of staff who have been very loyal to the company through thick and thin.
“We’re grateful to Yorkshire Bank’s Harrogate FSC for its enthusiasm and for supporting us once again at a time when it is still very difficult to secure funding within the banking industry.”
S&B Utilities, founded in 2002, succeeded an earlier business, S&B Construction, established in 1980.
The company changed ownership in 2006 with a management buyout, also funded by Yorkshire Bank North Yorkshire FSC, led by Keith Swales with his son, senior contracts director, Darren Swales, and finance director and company secretary, Karen Blackwood.
Its services include civil engineering, metal fabrication, building and maintenance, feasibility studies and design for customers including C2C Services, Morgan Est and Costain Group.
Yorkshire Bank Harrogate FSC business partner, Andy Hay, who arranged the funding for S&B Utilities, said: “Yorkshire Bank has committed to lending £2bn to Yorkshire businesses during the next two years.
“S&B Utilities is a strong business with an experienced management team, which we have supported for some time, and solid expertise. We are pleased to be associated with its success in creating jobs through this new contract.”
