Family firm B & I Thompson Construction has come a long way since it was set up in 1986 building up a strong reputation and a good name for itself. But now the company is looking for new opportunities to further expand on its success

Started in Barnard Castle, County Durham by father and son Brian and Ian Thompson, it specialised in traditional and heritage skills. It has steadily grown over the years and now has a turnover of £3million and an area of operations covering North Yorkshire, County Durham, Hartlepool and Cumbria. Brian Thompson semi-retired from the company in 1999 and Ian’s wife Belinda joined the ranks as a director but he still retains an active interest in the business and his 50 plus years of experience in the industry make him a major asset.

“We are not a massive company but have built up a good name, which has led to a steady continuation of work,” says director Ian Thompson. “But we now feel that we need to grow that little bit more.”

As well as its historic heritage skills, the company offers bespoke joinery products, such as windows and shop fronts and designs, manufactures and erects timber frames.

It enjoys long-standing working relationships with a number of housing associations, which have stemmed from a social housing scheme with Three Rivers Housing in 1999. B&I Thompson refurbished a Grade II listed building, a former magistrates court, to create six apartments and a two-bedroom cottage demonstrating its traditional and heritage skills to successfully deliver a much-needed social housing scheme in Barnard Castle. “This gave us the opportunity to demonstrate our traditional and heritage skills to deliver a much-needed social housing scheme,” says Thompson. “It was a challenging and difficult renovation bringing new use to a redundant historic building.”

This was the start of a successful working partnership which saw 50 new social housing homes developed within the Teesdale area. Its Waterloo Yard scheme won a Durham County Council Environment Award in 1999 and in 2005 and 2007 the company received DCC Environment Award commendations, while in 2008 it received a North East Constructing Excellence Award for Innovation for its Jubilee Terrace development.

The company has also regularly worked with Housing Hartlepool through the Spirit Regeneration group, and projects have included delivering an innovative scheme of two-bedroom bungalows using Insulated Concrete Formwork (ICF), timber frame to achieve an eco homes standard of very good - one example of how the company has adapted its traditional skills over the years to become proficient in modern methods of construction. The properties have also been built to Lifetime Homes Standards.

Even in the current climate B&I Thompson is continuing to win new contracts and has been appointed by Housing Hartlepool to build 15 bungalows to level 3 of the Code for Sustainable Homes and nine bungalows with unique timber frames and timber cladding.

Creating the right type of property is important and the company aims to create social housing that does not stigmatise tenants. “With a bit of thought and the right skill level and right design team you can produce good quality affordable housing with architectural merits and we are passionate about that,” says Thompson.

The company has also produced schemes with private clients and developers, including the conversion of farm and industrial buildings into residential premises.

Its new base, comprising an office, manufacturing and storage yard and joinery workshop, has been a key factor in the company’s growth and improvement. “We are now strategically positioned to grow repeat and new client work,” says Thompson. “With low overheads, and responsive management we have the capacity to deliver long-term best value partnerships and growth together with existing clients.”

The company has 20 directly employed staff and a very low staff turnover. “The staff have thorough knowledge of our processes and procedures, meaning contracts are delivered on time, on budget and striving for zero defects,” says Thompson.

It is committed to the training and development of employees and has a structured training plan, as well as running a successful apprenticeship training programme.

“We understand the company’s capacity to deliver is determined by the quality and loyalty of its employees, and ensure each receives the correct level of skill, health and safety training and coaching,” says Thompson. “We have developed knowledge and skills through on-the-job training as well as formal qualifications. Our company motto is build it together and that is what we stand for.”

Monthly staff meetings are held where everybody has a chance to put forward suggestions for improvement. “We use team meetings and one-on one performance reviews to ensure that everyone has equality of opportunity to learn and develop, and to contribute to the business,” says Thompson.

“Quite often the suggestions for the best improvements come from these meetings.” Looking to the future Thompson is confident of growth both geographically into the North East and Northumberland and in terms of contracts with existing clients.

“With our commitment to continuous sustainable improvement we will continue to examine current practice to improve processes, efficiency and quality of delivery for our customers and ensure continual success for the company in the future,” he says. “We are looking at continuing with our already established relationships and working with new clients and plan to continue delivering social housing schemes in rural areas in particular.”