Member Article

County Durham geo-environmental firm grows workforce by 30% after funding boost

County Durham-based Dunelm Geotechnical & Environmental has increased its turnover and staff headcount thanks to a business grant from Investment for Growth.

Dunelm Geotechnical & Environmental is a site investigation company based in Meadowfield, servicing contracts across the UK, with its expertise in geotechnical and geoenvironmnetal issues.

Having enjoyed over 40 years in the industry, Dunelm began to feel the effects of the recession in 2012, as the rate of winning new contracts in the construction industry began to slow down.

Dunelm approached Investment for Growth for financial assistance with its business plan.

Ann and her team made an application to Investment to Growth to help meet the costs of a consultant to guide them through the different ISO applications.

Dunelm was successfully accredited with ISO 9001 & 14001 in early 2013, and since then the company has gone from strength-to-strength, winning larger contracts and consequently growing the business.

In less than a year since receiving the ISO accreditations, Dunelm has increased its turn over by 25 per cent to £2.8 million and now employs over 30 members of staff – an increase of 15 per cent on workforce figures last year.

Ann Izatt-Lowry, operations director of Dunelm Geotechnical & Environmental, said: “Back in 2012, we were really starting to feel the pinch of the recession – it’s no secret the construction sector was one of the first to take a massive hit.

“In order to protect our business and to grow into the future, we identified the need for ISO accreditation – specifically the Quality Management System and Environmental Management System marques. A lot of the contracts in the region – especially servicing the public sector - required these certifications, and so if we wanted to be in with a chance of winning the business, we needed to make sure we met the prerequisites.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ellen Forster .