Gloucester specialist construction company collaborates for growth
Gloucester-based coldstore construction company ISD Solutions has formalised a collaboration with Northampton food industry specialist DDK Projects, a move it sees as being key to fast growth in the food sector.
The relationship between coldstore construction experts ISD Solutions and food industry specialists DDK Projects has already been instrumental in delivering projects in excess of £30 million since April 2021.
Thanks to this business collaboration, DDK expects to multiply turnover through the collective delivery of joint projects by this time in 2027.
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 (also based in Gloucester) is one of several food industry construction specialists who will be collaborating with DDK in future.
A key part of DDK's growth strategy is pre-qualification of the supply chain and a partnership of approved subcontractors, including ISD Solutions.
Having already delivered £2 million 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 £70 million.
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.”
