Member Article

Consultancy celebrates first year success with office move

Engineering and surveying consultancy, Smithers Purslow, is spring boarding into 2013 by moving to new premises, south of the River Tyne, after what has been a very promising first year in the region.

The Midlands based consultancy, which has also announced two new appointments, launched in the region in 2011 with native north easterner, Chris Scott, originally from East Boldon, at the helm returning to the region after spending eight years in Smithers Purslow’s head office.

Offering a full structural design service, together with structural investigations, contract administration and project management, Smithers Purslow has considerable expertise in the field of domestic and commercial buildings’ insurance claims as well as building conservation and the renovation and refurbishment of listed buildings.

Since 2011 the consultancy has quickly established itself in the region in spite of the difficult economy, a factor which Chris attributes to the firm’s flexible, multi-disciplinary service portfolio as well as his efforts to get out and about to market its range of services to new companies.

The last year has seen Smithers Purslow operating mainly on projects that have arisen from the insurance sector as the damage caused on ‘Thunder Thursday’ continues to make an impact.

Additionally, instructions from architects for structural surveys, condition surveys and party wall matters have also made a major contribution to success – a result of property owners deciding to extend or convert their current properties, rather than moving to a new location.

To mark the start of 2013, Smithers Purslow has recently moved from its former small office in Jesmond, into South Tyneside’s Quadrus Centre at Boldon Business Park, which, as Chris explains, provides the opportunity for future expansion.

He says: “I am delighted that Smithers Purslow has managed to secure a place for itself in the regional built environment sector so soon, leading to the creation of two new roles in the north east and as the business expands, further roles will be created as workflow allows.

“Our work is quite varied and not all within the region, which is why our new office location is ideal, with easy access to all the main road networks.

“For example, I am currently involved in the complete rebuild of a house in Limavady in Northern Ireland, which will involve planning permission, building regulations and project management. This project sees me frequently flying to Belfast these days, while nearer to home, I have been providing structural surveys and condition surveys on a stately hall and a Grade 2 Listed building as well as being involved in a number of insurance claims following the recent flooding in Morpeth - so life is hectic.”

Smithers Purslow’s two new roles have been filled by Ken Porter, a Chartered Structural Engineer with 15 years’ experience, who has been appointed as the firm’s northern engineer and Tom Reid a year out student from Northumbria University who is already involved in a wide range of activities including design and contract administration, project management, health and safety matters and condition surveys.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Smithers Purslow .