Member Article

Brims Construction founding director returns to his roots

The director of a North East based construction firm is returning to his roots to support a building project at the prestigious Durham University, where he studied 20 years ago.

Ian Baggett is a director of Sunderland-based construction firm, Brims Construction, who recently embarked on a contract to carry out a million pound development project on the University’s Geography department, the department where he obtained not one but two degrees.

The appointment of Brims Construction to the project sees Ian’s involvement at the University come full circle, as Ian is a proud alumnus of Durham University and the refurbishment project includes his former Geography classroom.

There will be a complete refurbishment of seminar rooms and lecture theatres at the Geography West building located at Durham University, as well as a partial re-roofing of the structure. With work already underway on site, the alterations are due to be finished by September 2016 in readiness for the new academic year.

The refurbishment will improve both the research and teaching facilities providing an enhanced experience for students and staff alike. They will provide state of the art facilities for Durham University’s Geography Department, ranked third in the world by the 2016 QS World University Rankings.

This is the third time that Brims Construction has worked on refurbishment projects at Durham University; previous work includes the updating of student accommodation at St John’s College and renovating the dining and kitchen facilities at Collingwood College.

With previous experience of a range of heritage, education and commercial developments including; the Whitburn C of E new sixth form centre, the complete upgrade and refurbishment of the award-winning Toffee Factory and Live Theatre’s LiveWorks, Brims Construction’s expert team are well suited for this specialist project.

Ian Baggett, who is also founder CEO of Adderstone Group, the Newcastle-based property development company, said: “This is an amazing department and an amazing Uni. My years there as both an undergrad and postgrad were completely formative. When I learned that my partners in Brims had won this project, I returned with a sense of ironic sentimentality. It is of course only fitting that the department chose a business they helped create to carry out this project!”

Professor Mike Crang, Head of Geography at Durham University said: “It is a pleasure to welcome Ian Baggett back to the Geography department. His undergraduate dissertation on student housing paved the way for his successful empire while his postgraduate work opened up a world of opportunities here and in the Far East. We are very pleased to be working with him again and we are sure that other students will be inspired by his drive and determination.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Adderstone Group .