Stone grows as it bucks the trend and builds on its London reputation
One of the North East's fastest-growing, family-run restoration and maintenance firms has secured more work in London as it continues to grow in the South and South East, helping it to create jobs and develop its headquarters in Darlington.
Stone Technical Services specialises in high level restoration, renovation and repairs and works on a variety of buildings and structures UK-wide. Last year proved to be a year of consistent growth for the business, despite the prevailing economic climate and an overall downturn in the building and maintenance sector.
The company has secured the contract to carry out a major restoration and conservation project at Chiswick House in west London, working alongside English Heritage, to restore the boundary wall and public gates.
Chiswick House
Chiswick House dates back to the 1700s and is a rare example of a neo-Palladian villa set in stunning historic gardens. A popular visitor attraction, Chiswick House has undergone a multi-million pound preservation programme to restore its gardens and the ongoing upkeep of this historic attraction is of utmost importance. As part of the project, Stone's specialist restoration team removed loose debris before carefully dismantling the old wall and then re-building and re-pointing it using a combination of the existing and also new materials. The company's ironmongery experts replaced the pedestrian gates using traditional methods and reinstated the gate leaf and decorative ironmongery in keeping with the original gates.
Also in the South East, having already successfully carried out a number of servicing, maintenance and repair contracts for Swan Housing Association, Stone has secured further work to inspect lightning protection on all of the organisation's housing stock in the South.
And following a successful period of work at the Royal Courts of Justice on The Strand, Stone has been contracted to complete more work to maintain the guttering and carry out an extensive survey of the historic building to preserve its natural beauty.
And in Shoreditch, close to the City, Stone has secured contracts to carry out general maintenance on a variety of business premises.
Throughout 2011, Stone Technical Services continued to grow despite a general slump in the building sector and has opened new offices in Cheshire and re-located its London site to a more central location to help it expand in the area.
Stone now has premises in Cheadle Hulme near Stockport, Orange Street close to Piccadilly Circus in central London, Pinner in Middlesex and its headquarters in Darlington.
During last year, the company saw a 30% increase in new contracts around the country and has worked on structures such as Gibside Monument near Gateshead, for housing associations and churches, organisations such as Network Rail and British Waterways and on a range of buildings including the Cornmill Centre in Darlington, Theakston's Brewery in Masham in North Yorkshire, Merrion House in Leeds city centre and Merchant Taylors' Hall and White Lion Court in the City of London.
The company has also been able to create ten new jobs in 2011 and now employs a team of 30.
Managing director, Dave Stone said: “2011 was a tough year for our sector but the team at Stone has worked tirelessly to exceed customer expectations and continually provide an unrivalled service. This is why we retain customers and they return to us again and again- they know we're reliable.
"These recent contracts show the scope of works that we do on a weekly basis ranging from renovations and the restoration of historic buildings, to general maintenance projects on business premises. We provide the full service and this is rare in our industry at a time when budgets are tight but it is this level of expertise which is setting us apart and allowing us to win new contracts, especially in competitive regions such as London."
