Member Article

Teesside company builds success- half a century on

A well-known Teesside family business is this month (November) celebrating its 50th anniversary.

Building contracting and development company, RA Howard and Sons, was established in 1962 by Ron Howard in Brotton, Saltburn-by-the-Sea.

Ron’s son, Graham Howard, took over the running of the family business in 1982 having previously trained and worked as a teacher at schools around Teesside and North Yorkshire.

Fifty years on and RA Howard and Sons is now in its third generation being run by Ron’s grandsons, Keith and Richard Howard, assisted by Graham who also owns the popular Stokesley bistro, Howards.

The building company works all over the Teesside and North Yorkshire areas with housing associations, local authorities, housebuilders, insurance companies, loss adjusters and private individuals.

One of RA Howard and Sons’ most recent projects was the building of two environmentally-friendly homes in Faceby, close to Stokesley in North Yorkshire. The new houses feature air source heat pumps, solar panels, rainwater harvesting and exceptional levels of insulation to make them eco-friendly.

Over the years the company has worked on projects for Redcar and Cleveland Council, Hambleton District Council, Broadacres and Endeavour Housing Association.

RA Howard and Sons currently employs a team of eight with various local sub-contractors working on projects across Teesside andNorth Yorkshire.

Speaking about the business’s 50thanniversary, Graham Howard said: “I have watched our family business change and evolve a lot over the last half a century- so much as changed, not least the tools of the trade and the economic environment. RA Howard and Sons has ridden two recessions- when our sector was massively affected- and we’ve adapted to make sure we’re always at the top of our game.”

Graham’s son, Richard Howard, added: “It’s great being part of a well established business that has such a solid reputation. The building industry has suffered some tough times but we’ve survived thanks to our passion for the work, variety of skills and exceptional levels of service.”

Keith Howard said: “Both Richard and I studied and trained hard to be able to enter the family business- that was very important to us. We’ve brought a host of new skills into the company to help it constantly develop and secure new projects and will continue to do so for many years to come.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Anna Addison .