A CO TYRONE off-site building specialist has announced deals worth £5m in London as it switches its focus outside Northern Ireland.
The McAvoy Group described its successful tenders for the deals to build school accommodation as a “breakthrough” in the English education market.
As an off-site company, most of the work will be done at McAvoy’s premises in Dungannon and Lisburn. Business development director Orla Corr said: “With the recent downturn in the construction sector locally, we have been increasingly looking outside of the province for new opportunities. “Our off-site building technology helps to deliver educational facilities within a reduced time-frame and with significantly less disruption on site. “These school contracts represent something of a breakthrough within the education sector in England. We are hopeful that more will follow.”
McAvoy Group described the contracts as “the latest phase in a concerted export drive into the English marketplace”.
The deals are for classrooms and other accommodation in the boroughs of Enfield, Waltham Forest, Merton and Barnet. The work will include extensions and providing new premises. They include a contract for McAvoy staff to work on an extension at a school in Kensington and on extra accommodation for schools in Essex and Bristol.
In Merton, the Poplar Primary School and Garfield Primary School will receive two single-storey classrooms. In Enfield, McAvoy will design, build and install a school building for Worcester School, and in Waltham Forest’s Gwyn Jones Primary School, the company will provide an extension for pupils with special educational needs made up of four classrooms, toilets, storage and a central administration block.
Ms Corr said: “Our off-site building expertise leads to faster completion times, less environmental impact and enhanced quality. Increasingly more and more clients are opting for modular construction solutions.” McAvoy has turned to the English market for contracts at time when the construction market in Northern Ireland continues to decline, and lags behind the rest of the UK.
Read more: http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/business/business-news/building-firm-secures-amppound5m-breakthrough-london-deals-16195635.html#ixzz232AUIlSt