Construction firm has building blocks in place for bright future
One of South West Scotland’s leading construction firms has revealed it is“well placed to bounce back”from the effects of Covid-19 lockdown.
Prestwick-based Ashleigh Building has returned to sites, reporting a full order book as it looks to make up for lost time.
The company, which employs around 160, has emerged from the pandemic with bosses saying the lessons learned from the 2008 financial crash have left them on a solid footing to move forward with confidence.
Managing director, David Smith, said: “Ashleigh are still very proud that we came out of the 2008 crash and built on an organic growth model year on year since then with a real focus on business resilience.
“This focus on resilience and organic growth meant we had to resist our natural instincts of getting as much turnover as we could but instead focus on low risk clients, loyalty, low borrowings, building our balance sheet and increasing cash reserves.
“The direct result of that strategy is our strength today.”
Mr Smith, who said the treasury’s job retention scheme was “very welcome,” confirmed that Ashleigh felt no need to use other government assistance packages owing to their “prudency over previous years”.
He added: “Whilst the pandemic bill for Ashleigh is sitting in seven figures and has been incredibly painful, we are in excellent shape to resume in delivering our full order book.
“Throughout the lockdown there has been seven of us working through to ensure bills are paid, we were ready to return safely to sites and also to continue to get the projects in predelivery stages pushed on to secure our future workload.
“This has all worked perfectly and as our resources start to re-engage with the business, they can clearly see the pipeline of work that is being mapped out in front of them.
“Confidence and momentum are key to business, we are fortunate that we have both and that our construction industry has a decent looking future ahead in the short to mid-term at least.
“We are all too aware that other industries are struggling and we do not take this for granted.
“Now is a time for acting responsibly and fairly, our people have benefitted from that.
“There is no doubt that the company, along with many others, has been greatly affected by the situation but we look forward to picking up where we left off and gathering momentum again.”