Member Article

Cannock firm ‘kicks up a storm’ with new contracts and a record year

Taking a fresh approach to a traditional industry has helped a Cannock-based business more than double its turnover this year.

Storm Industrial Roofing Ltd has invested significantly in its workforce, health and safety equipment, a commitment to customer service and an efficient aftersales service that has helped it secure a string of contracts with clients in the automotive, aerospace and pharmaceutical sectors.

The firm, which offers a repair and refurbishment service for many types of roofing, side and wall claddings, has created eighteen new jobs in the process.

It has also provided the ideal platform for relocation to a larger premises at STORM House on Littleton Drive in Huntington, which offers greater storage space, purpose-built offices and a dedicated conference room.

“We’ve come a long way since my business partner Stephen Farr-Smith and I decided to start Storm Industrial Roofing after seeing a gap in the market,“ explained Nick Hughes.

“At the start there was just the two of us and a small number of workers, but even then we wanted to take a different approach to how we dealt with customers and the image we presented.“

He continued: “Our sector has suffered from reports of poor service and has been seen as an industry stuck in its ways. This undermines the technical knowledge and skill needed to undertake some of the projects we deal with, so we decided to do something to change perceptions.

“All of our staff have been excellent, working many hours over and above to ensure we meet our customer commitment across the board, from the initial free nationwide survey, through to the running of the contract and then finally our aftersales support.

“Our key strength is being able to offer a national service with one dedicated account manager assigned to a client; this has made it easy for a number of our multi-site clients, who have one point of contact throughout… this is where a real trustworthy and long-term relationship can then hopefully develop”.

Storm Industrial Roofing, which currently employs over 30 people, has invested heavily in the relocation, a fleet of new vans and the development of a marketing strategy to demonstrate its capabilities and services.

This included promoting the firm’s ability to offer both a repair service, as well as refurbishment of flat and pitched roofs, cladding and guttering.

It has also recruited two new full-time national technical sales representatives, who provide the company with additional sales presence and improved response time to survey requests across the UK.

Stephen Farr-Smith picked up the story: “Word of mouth from existing clients where we have done a great job, combined with the new marketing effort, has definitely worked and is ensuring we pick up new projects on a weekly basis.

“However, it is still our technical expertise and our ability to save customers time and money on jobs that remains our biggest selling point.“

A member of CHAS, Safecontractor, Construction Line, Contractor Plus and RoSPA (the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accident), Storm Industrial Roofing works predominantly across the commercial and industrial sectors.

Future expansion is expected to come on the back of renewed growth in manufacturing, pharma and new opportunities in the leisure sector.

The company is also in the process of securing the ISO 9001 and ISO 140001 quality and environmental accreditations respectively.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Russ Cockburn .