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'WESTERN
MAIL 2001 WALES FAST GROWTH 50'
Dale Building Maintenance are
pleased to become members of the
'Fast Growth 50' for 2001 - the fifty fastest growing companies
in Wales.
The
Property Maintenance Specialist Based in Cardiff
Turnover 1998: £3,304,000
Turnover 2000: £5,687,000
72.1 % growth
Employees 1998: 80
Employees 2000: 114
42.5 % growth
Founded
in 1986 by two of its present directors, Iwan Davies and Jeff Price,
its head office is at the original location at Taffs Well.
The firm provides a property maintenance service of
rapid, reactive repair work, planned maintenance, minor refurbishment
and insurance restoration work
to retail outlets, commercial properties and insurance sector clients
throughout South Wales and the South West of England.
The company expanded rapidly in the late 1980's and opened branches
in Swansea, Bristol, Devon and Cornwall. There has been growth in
each of its operating branches. In 1998, Dale opened a branch in
Southampton to serve Hampshire but it now serves a much larger area
than this. A new insurance restoration division was set up in 1998
to manage insurance claims. It is principally due to the success
of this division that turnover has doubled since that date. This
specialist division provides a complete service from survey of the
claim for validation through to completing the repair work. Dale
works closely with Norwich Union across its operating base excepting
Bristol.
The company has invested heavily in IT mainly to service this department.
£40,000 has been spent on developing an in-house claims management
software, which is now used throughout the company. The company
handles around 15, 000 claims per annum.
Dale attributes the success of the company to its dedicated team
of tradesmen, management and directors and is very keen to ensure
that it retains a happy and motivated workforce by continuing to
invest in staff development. Iwan Davies is proud of the fact that
over 30% of his employees have in excess of 10 years service. The
firm is very aware of the need for continual development and improvement
and has a number of plans for the short and medium term, including
the possibility of using satellite technology to track the vehicle
movements of their maintenance division, which will provide an improved
response to clients. Trials are underway of a new system which allows
assessors to pass through claims information including photographs
via laptop computers, speeding up claims lead time.
At a company level, they aim to establish two new divisions, electrical
and roofing, in the next two years, which will see turnover exceed
£11m by 2004. The anticipated further growth will mean significant
extra recruitment, building on their current base of 180 employees.
The company will shortly be recruiting a Recruitment and Training
manager in order to cope with the growth of the company and to ensure
that they continue to provide a high quality service to their customers.
The philosophy at Dale Building Maintenance Ltd. continues to be
that good service equals repeat business.
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