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Tuesday, March 14, 2024

Whelan Construction doubles 2006 order book

Whelan Construction Development one of the northeast of England's leading independent construction companies is celebrating having doubled its order book for 2006, 4 years ahead of forecast.

Only 18 months ago, Whelan, a 30-year-old Newcastle based firm, embarked on a strategic growth plan that aimed to double turnover by 2010. Last year the company announced its highest turnover to date of £22m, and by January 06, Whelan had secured orders in excess of £50m to take into 2007.

Tony Whelan, Commercial Director, commented: "There is a real buzz at Whelan right now. We have achieved so much and in a short amount of time, surpassing all expectations. Our succession of recent achievements has given us a lot of assurance. We've got a clear company vision and we're well positioned to grow".

Over 70% of the company's new orders have been achieved by repeat business, with the remaining 30% derived from personal recommendations and new leads. Currently, Whelan are working on 16 projects, including developments for Jennings at Washington, Hanro at Benton and City & Northern at Monkton and South Shields. Joint Ventures add another dimension to the portfolio, including Cathedral Park, Durham with Argon Developments and Belmont Business Park with Helios Developments.

During the last 18 months Whelan has internally invested in excess of £4million to develop the company - improving the firms infrastructure, IT, quality systems, supply chain and staff training - which have all been fundamental to the company's success. Whelan has also enlisted support from industry experts including Dave Stitt a highly respected performance coach to implement the company's development programme.

Commenting on the company's success, Bill Swan, Managing Director at Whelan, said: "Reputation and word-of-mouth recommendation has certainly helped Whelan develop, furthermore, we've been able to back that up with high quality build and delivery. More and more companies are realising our increasing capabilities and our commitment to high quality service. We are a forward thinking company and the future looks very bright".